Oh sleep, where are you?

One thing about having a child who has ADHD tendencies is that sleep does not come easily.  There is too much for them to do and too few hours in the day.  As Amelia says “we can’t sleep TOO much”. 

While she doesn’t find trouble, she isn’t exactly a quiet little mouse.  There are nights that I put her to bed at 8pm and she will still be awake and playing when I go to bed at 10pm. 

Here’s what I hear (done in the voice of her “friends” Mickey, Minnie and their friends, all stuffed animals that she has):

Mickey:  You can’t stay in the bath too long or you’ll become a prune.

Donald:  Princesses can’t become prunes.

Mickey:  But her Mommy can and then she won’t have a mommy anymore.

Me:  AMELIA YOU NEED TO BE QUIET AND GO TO SLEEP

Mickey:  I can’t help it, that’s how I talk.

Donald:  She said to go to sleep.

And on and on and on.

One day last week she was awake from 130am-6 in the morning.  She had school and I had work the next day.  While it is not easy for me to function, somehow she seems to make it though.

Monday of this week she woke up at 4:30am and it did not make for an easy day that included a stress test for me.    Of course, she then went to school and apparently punched 2 boys…because they wouldn’t move out of her way.

Well, I do teach her to defend herself but geez! 

Not sure if it was lack of sleep or what, but this Momma’s at her wits end. 

Before all of the advice starts rolling in, yes, I’ve probably tried everything your going to say and thanks but no thanks on the medical advice.  I am in constant contact with her pediatrician and we are raising the dosage on Melatonin starting tonight.  I know there are a million more all-natural remedies but I won’t give anything without the pediatricians approval—I figure if she went through 8+ years at school I can go by that and, of course, my Mommy instinct.  After all, every person is different.  I also have some other things I’m asking her about.

So anyways, I know there are others who deal with this.  I have a few friends whose children have ADHD, Autism and many other “disorders” and we talk about it frequently.  That doesn’t mean that if your child isn’t sleeping that they have one of these, some kids are just hard at bedtime.

So how was last night?  She went to bed at 9pm and slept until 6:15 this morning—I see a boxing class in her future.  LOOK OUT BOYS!

(sorry for the rambling, sleep is not easy to catch up on)