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4 Year Old Suddenly Having Problems Going To Sleep at Night,
Tue, 09/26/2017 - 15:20Topic: Parents & Caregivers
Hello,
My son got diagnosed with frontal temporal lobe epilepsy November 2016. I am currently waiting to speak with a neurologist and I was told I most likely wont be speaking with one until mid next summer. For now, he is on a keto diet and has not had any seizures, he actually changed into a child who can focus, listen, cooperate, is gentle and very affectionate. I guess the sugar cut and healthier eating has helped.
He has had problems in the past with sleeping alone. He stayed in my bed until 2. From 2 until now he has been alone.
The last couple of nights he takes about 1 hour or 2 to get to sleep. He goes in his bed fine, but then it's 'mom!!' and if I do the whole leave him alone, he gets hysterical, he doesn't hit or break things, but screams at the top of his lungs and I get scared that it might cause a seizure...
Nobody on either side of his family has epilepsy so I am not sure who to turn to.
I don't know what to do, I am at a loss and since my mom lives with us, she gets in the way and I feel like I am unable to fix this myself because all she states is ' don't let him cry or he will have a seizure. Just put him in your bed or sleep in his'. I DO NOT want to start this pattern but I am not sure what to do... Please please someone help me out..
Comments
MOM needs to stay out of it.
Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2017-09-27 - 16:48
MOM needs to stay out of it. Lock her in her closet if need be. Ask her if her mother interrupted her correction or action she did with you.When was the last medication dosage changed. When growing dosages do need to be adjusted. I know been there done that. I had mine changed 4 times in about 18 months because I was changing and growing. I went from 4'8" yo 5'6" during that period of time. Yes I had problems getting to sleep and I slept about 4 hours a night. The body also gets used to the medication so dosages need to be changed from time to time
ps some background on my
Submitted by Amy Jo on Wed, 2017-09-27 - 23:25
ps some background on my child with E - falling asleep wasn't a problem, but sleep is disrupted as shown on overnight EEGs (problem started as seizures got worse within the first year of diagnosis) and child continues to wake up to this day (5 years later). by spring of this year, we've finally gotten our child to learn to go back to sleep on her own, took longer and the person who was against pushing for child to learn this was the other parent. I need sleep so after years of disrupted sleep on my end, I was not operating at my best. we see a psychologist for CBT for another health reason but since anxiety and other things which feed negatively into epilepsy are involved, we practice things which also help with epilepsy, bonus!look up sleep hygiene as it is good to establish good habits, may not solve the issue but it will make doctors not blow you off. putting new habits into place takes time, rarely happens quickly so take small steps and use positive feedback whenever possible.
wow, you need your mom out of
Submitted by Amy Jo on Tue, 2017-09-26 - 20:48
wow, you need your mom out of the immediate situation, send her shopping or take her aside and tell her she needs to stay in her room until you’ve tried some different approaches and something helps. tell her that her actions can also contribute to possible seizures and until she can remain deadly calm to take a time out.have you tried dissolvable melatonin tablets, start small by splitting pills or quartering pills. melatonin is good for getting to sleep. magnesium seems to also help with sleep but my kid with E doesn’t take pills, helps my other kid with migraines tho’.kids with epilepsy, people with epilepsy, can easily have disrupted sleep. it could also be he is growing and needs his meds adjusted. sleep hygiene is important but may not do the trick, still need to have best sleep hygiene possible which your mom is sabotaging so stay calm but she must keep her opinions to herself. it is okay to try different things.