polarbear, thank you!
the sleep issue is a very strange one. I don't think though that it's digestion related. The strange thing about it is that he has LESS issues with less sleep. He's moody, irritable, super sensitive, etc. when he gets full 10-11hrs of sleep at night ... yet he's fully alert, easy going, fewer tantrums when he only gets 5-6hrs of sleep (but at that point I'm ready to hang myself! ... not really but you get my point! lol). He seems to thrive with less sleep but it's very taxing on everyone around him. I wouldn't mind having him awake at night (he still has a gate up in his room so can only stay there) but he's VERY loud when he's awake .... playing or calling me. He actually sleeps on the floor in his room because that's the only place where he can stay asleep for more than two or three hours. I was considering a sleep study but it wouldn't really work right now because he won't fall asleep anywhere but at home (or in the car) not to mention he wouldn't tolerate any of the sensors. So we'll have to wait with that till sometime in the future.
I will ask about the Developmental Pediatrician next time we see the Psych. I am a part of local SPD parent support group and some of the parents have been to a Developmental Pedi but she has a huge waiting list as well and doesn't take our insurance. But since we're already seen by the Psychiatry dept. we might be able to get seen by others without having to be on the long waiting lists!
I think I mentioned in my original post that I believe DS4 does have some sort of learning disability ... I can already tell he's getting his letters mixed up and while he's great with math, when it's math on paper (or when he sees numbers) he sometimes transposes digits and such. This is a completely uncharted territory for me and hopefully the special ed teacher would be able to pick up on it?
I think I am somewhat biased against the special ed because our friends' daughter goes there and soon their son will too. They are great friends but I already limit our play dates to about twice a month because I don't want our boys learn from the friends' kids habits. There is a huge chance all three of them would be in the same class (and possibly next March when DS2 ages out of EI he'll be in there as well) and I am just not happy about that. I hope that doesn't make me a bad friend ... but that is the truth
. And it's not that I would want to keep my kids away from other kids with other diagnosis ... I don't mean to say that my kids are better than other kids ... it's that I don't agree with some of their parenting choices and don't want my kids to do what the friends' kids are allowed to do.
