A couple of weeks ago I posted to get information for SPD which I'm pretty clear that my DS5 has. Kinder was going horribly and the principal was making noises about sending him home to try again next year.

On the advice of a couple of different people I started giving DS melatonin at bedtime. Instead of laying awake for hours, he goes right to sleep and sleeps through the night. In addition to this his K teacher called me yesterday and said "I don't know what you're doing, but keep it up!" DS hasn't had an incident at school in over two weeks. He went from 5-6 a day to none! Just like that!

This is great news! There have been studies that indicate that many times sleep issues are mis-diagnosed for ADHD. This sounds like it could have gone the same way! So glad that you found the solution and your son. He must feel so much better too.

What dosage are you giving? How did you determine it? Is it a capsule or tablet and how do you give it? How soon did you notice the change?

It makes perfect sense that sleep issues can cause such problems. I see in my own kids how much worse things are when I know they didn't get a good sleep. But I suspect there may be situations where you don't realize that the sleep isn't good. How did you decide to try the melatonin - did he appear to be restless during sleep or something? I admit I'm hesitant to try it, but it sure is tempting.

Good job!!

We give DD7 1/5th of a strip of the Enlyten melatonin, which is 0.3mg. It's atrociously expensive, and DD doesn't like the mint in the flavoring, but it's easier than pills, and 0.3mg is a hard dosage to find in pills. (Standard adult dose is 3mg.)

DrWikipedia says that more is not better with respect to melatonin, and I think that's where I guesstimated that a 0.3mg dose was a reasonable starting place. I do give her a larger scrap if I want her to fall asleep faster, so I suspect she's getting less than an optimal dose most nights. We've tried taking her off (on the theory that she might have established an early sleeping habit), and we've tried not giving it on weekends or when she's up later than normal, but she's been really resistant to giving it up - she likes that it helps her fall asleep easily.

Honestly, it hasn't changed her "during sleep" habits at all - she still gets up in the night occasionally to use the toilet or to come in after a bad dream. But she falls asleep far faster (~30 min vs. ~90 or more), and wakes cheerfully early enough to get ready for school (rather than being grumpily shaken awake by me).

It was recommended to me by several people to address the great difficulty DS5 has falling asleep. Tucked in every night at 8:00, he never went to sleep before 10:30-11:00. He would just lay there and stare at the ceiling. He had no stimulation at all.

I give him 1/3 of a mg. I got it in liquid form from the vitamin cottage. It comes with an eye-dropper. I give it to him between 7:30-7:45, put him down at 8:00 and he's asleep in 5 minutes.

Alexmom.... You might want to look into the liquid. A bottle was $6.95 and it is probably at least a months worth, maybe more. Just be sure that you get the one that is one mg per dropper. The adult strength is 3-4 mg per dropper.

We pay $5 (plus a little shipping) for a pack of 6 strips, which is enough for a month. So it sounds like the liquid is just as expensive.

3mg pills are $6 for 120 at the Walmart down the road, so $1.50 a month.

WOW! We so need to try this. DS6.5 doesn't stay up until 11, but most nights lights are out by 8:30, and it takes at least an hour for him to actually fall asleep.

Melatonin is great stuff, really helps my son fall asleep much more easily. Good info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

A few choice bits from the wiki page:

"Besides its function as synchronizer of the biological clock, melatonin also exerts a powerful antioxidant activity"

"Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may have lower than normal levels of melatonin"

"Research shows that after melatonin is administered to ADHD patients on methylphenidate, the time needed to fall asleep is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the effects of the melatonin after three months showed no change from its effects after one week of use"

We are huge fans of melatonin here (our daughter has PDD-NOS). We call it "liquid gold." Unfortunately, in Australia, it is really expensive -- $40/100 ml -- and cannot be purchased over the counter.

Shari, glad to hear that your son is responding so well to it!

Wow, we might have to try this! DS8 is doing much better behaviorally since we solved the poop problem, but he does still have a sleep problem and that might be the piece of the puzzle that we're missing.