to sleepless in PA

[Guest guest]

Dear sleepless,

My hand is up! We've been there too! I have additional suggestions to try

First, I agree with the mom who said that sleeping habits change. Mark used to

NEED his bedroom totally dark to sleep.......now at 9 years old, he NEEDS the

light on!

If your little one needs the light on, use the regular light bulb and over the

course of a month or so, gradually change to a dimmer bulb......We are finally

down to a 25 watt streaming all night long rather than the 100 watt we started

with.

Other than that, what has worked for us was to be ACTIVE after dinner. We go

swimming or for a bike ride. This helps to wear Mark out. Also, no DVD's or

TV after dinner. These stimulate him. Mark reads books or plays a computer

game, plays cards with us, or does the WII FIT (which also wears him out!)

FInally, since it summer, we strictly enforce bedtime of 10 p.m. Winter/school

year is 9 p.m.

For our household, everyone goes to bed at the same time.

All of these things have helped us feel peaceful and secure at bedtime.

BTW our house is like Fort Knox. Every door is locked up high--on the inside

with a sliding bolt. Mark CAN go out the back door to the fenced in back yard

but he would not be able to " escape " from there. We have found him wandering

around in the playhouse or on the swings in the morning---but it is rare.

Usually, he will wake someone. Recently, Mark put it all together that if he

gets in the car, in the garage, and pushes the garage door---he can get outside

and go where-ever. So now we keep the cars locked when in the garage. It's

just one more thing to remember!

Been there, done that! I hope some of these suggestions along with the great

ones from others will work for your child.

Sincerely,

Peri Ann Query

Mom of Mark age 9 DS-ASD