So where do I begin? Let's start with a disclaimer: (We have tried everything we could try prior to resorting to prescription medicine. After a length discussion with one of his specialist we decided to give it go and the results are astounding).
I guess I should say I had finally had enough. I was tired of never sleeping through the night. I was tired of the constant whiny, screaming, and fighting. I was tired.... I was exhausted... and quite frankly I mentally got to the point I knew we had to do something. No, I am not selfish, but if you count my pregnancy (the up and down at night to go to the potty) I had not had a full night of sleep in 3 years. I still haven't had a full night but it's 95% better.
I had tried giving Dacotah prescription Hydroxizine (it's like Benadryl but different) I had used it for Montana and her night terrors/nightmares etc, and she still uses it on the rare occasion (she will ask for it) when she can't seem to fall asleep.
I talked to the pharmacists and we had tried a bunch of different flavors. They are all awful tasting and even the chocolate tastes super strong of mint and is disgusting. I tried the easy way of trying to get him to taste it, it doesn't work. So like most things we have to hold him down and forcefully get him to take it.
The first night he slept 5 hours woke up briefly to nurse and slept 3 hours.
Second night around the same thing
Thursday night last week he went to bed around 8:30 slept 7 hours, then got up for the day at 8am. IMAGINE THAT 1 wake up in 11.5 hours...
His naps in the day are longer without any extra medicine. (Here's the awesome kicker, he's prescribed 6ml up to 4x a day. He takes 2-3ml at night only).
Okay so now that I admitted we medicate our kid. Would I change it? No, I would not. You see with the extra sleep he is talking more. He's interacting, he's watching cartoons with his daddy, he's chasing his sister. He's calmer. We made it through Walmart today without a meltdown whatsoever. We went to Putt Putt tonight and stayed for 2 hours and he barely whimpered, even when we were outside with a hundred or more people!!!!
Oh did I mention his OT, Mel, was so amazed at his interaction and eye contact! It's almost as though we have a different kid with nothing wrong with him. It's night and day difference. In the past week, he's started to say the words he lost and appropriately. He worked a board puzzle that before he showed no interest in. We think with the extra sleep and him going to daycare he can make leaps and bounds. Is he talking in sentences? no. Is he saying two words or more? no. But you can see him trying to say new words....Do I think it's going to be a slow process, maybe, but we are making progress. The sleep is helping him stay focused for longer periods of time.
So on a lighter note, the other day Dacotah is in the den and hollers out "Da Dada" Travis said he went to see what he needed because he never says da da, and hadn't in months. He looks in the den and Dacotah is holding something brown in his hand. Travis said he was laughing and gagging so hard trying to get him cleaned back up and his diaper changed. As soon as they were done, Dacotah signed "I love dada, I love mommy" Not only did he sign it, he said it as he signed it.... He hasn't done it again, but he will in his own time.
Sorry, we didn't update sooner, but we were waiting to see if the medicine would work or if it would be good for a few night and he regressed. Thankfully not. The best part is as his body adjusts to sleeping, he should be able to learn to sleep through the night on his own!
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