Since the beginnig of 2009 Noah's sleep pattern basically went to pieces
He used to be in bed by 7.30-8pm at the latest. But it all changed and i was lucky if I got him to bed before midnight. As you can imagine with two other children to care for I was drained. It was worse when he started school as I would have to wake him (not good!) and he would play up at school and be quite disruptive.

I tried everything and was at my wits end when I learned about Melatonin.

I researched it and got advice from other parents and a few autistic adults (through another forum) and decided to try it.

The difference in my son has been amazing. He is on a very low dose and now with the support of the pead and asd team.
Within 30 mins of having his drops (which he loves) he will come to me and say "ready go bed" and thats it! in bed for the night. His sleep cycle is pretty much bang on 9 hours so bed time is now 8.30pm which works for us.
He has free nights over the weekend, unless he asks for it!

But it has not only helped his sleep but had noticable effect on his behaviour and mood.
His appetite has improved, speech and understanding, concentration and awareness. This has been confirmed by the teachers, who mentioned it to me within days of him starting it.

I doesnt help every asd child but it has for us made such a difference.

hello
My 5yr old is in the process of being diagnosed with ADHD and we too had the same problem...i dreaded nighttime
now he takes one melatonin tablet before bed and within an hour he says he's sleepy and wants to ge bed

i was worried about giving them him to begin with as didnt like the idea of giving my 5ry old sleeping tablets...until the pead told me they are natural and what your body naturally produces to help you sleep

My boy is exactly the same. He has recently been prescribed Melatonin as his sleep patterns also went to peices unexpectedly. Although i have not noticed an improvement in his behaviour or communication, the fact that he now sleeps (without a battle) is just amazing.

My only problem is he was only prescribed the Melatonin for 6 weeks. I'm dreading him coming off it for the fear things will retun the way they were.

I'm so happy to hear it did wonders for you and your Darling Son Polomaplus

Thisisme Happy it worked for you also

So are they natural? I am always wary lol do you have a link to more info? cheersx

It is a natural supplement, yes. There is a gland in the brain which produces Melatonin. In people with ADHD, ASD ect ect, some times the melatonin supply get a little bist "screwif" and taking the supplement helps the brain to re regulate the secretion of the melatonin.

I'll mail you the link as i'm not sure you can on forum???

x

I got the link. Thanks so much x

No problem me dear, any time. Hope it helped to give you a bit more of an insight into it x

My little boy is also on melatonin but it seems to only work for a couple of weeks max then we are having to up it by a mil. He's currently on 1mg per 1ml and have 5ml per night. We can only go to a maximum of 10 so I am worried that before the year is out we are going to be back to the same old problems

my son also has this, he has adhd too. the problems we find is that it only takes 6 weeks or so for him to out grow a dose so we also give free nights at weekends and holidays so that it works better when he does have it. it has changed bedtime from 12 to about 9.