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[throughinfinityrainbowsandbeyond]

Sleeping is a challenge, vital for our special children

Children need enough good-quality sleep and rest for their brain to refresh ready for what’s coming for them the next day. It is vital for their development, growth and learning. Autistic children settle and sleep well with a comfortable sleep environment, healthy sleep associations and bedtime routines. As parents, we too can benefit well when our children are sleeping. We can rest when they are resting.

Sometimes sleep routines can be challenging and certain situations can cause disruption to any routine established. Like the lockdowns, isolation periods, unexpected outings or even un planned sleep or naps can disrupt the whole routine and the need to restart the whole routine again (the joy) .

My little mister is a little protester when it comes to sleeping. I think he does not want to miss out on what’s going to happened when he is asleep. So unless he is really tired, he will put up a fight when it is sleeping time. This has been an ongoing struggle. He is on melatonin now which helped a lot. He is sleeping through the night and bed times are way easier than before. Although it only works well when routines that are put in place are followed through. The passed few weeks we encountered many challenges like having to isolate and well contributed for sleeping challenges to arouse again. He is fighting sleep a little more than usual and unless you can physically see his eyes drooping, he will have energy to protest. I guess the next goal is to establish a night time routine that works well for both of us again. 

[throughinfinityrainbowsandbeyond]

Celebrate the little Big things

Part of being a parent of a child on the spectrum is celebrating the little “Big” things and looking at the positives for every situation. Our journey as parents are different from other parents. We get to know our children in their own unique way. This journey requires lots of learning for both children, parents and society. It’s a matter of communicating more than words and listening with an open heart. Verbal or non-verbal autistic children have their own ways of communicating.

Aldie’s little “Big” moment today was pausing and being bright and reactive to my mother. He spread out his arms widely and started to “play” and giggle, seeking for a reaction from his grandmother.  Spontaneous moments like this doesn’t happen too often so we celebrate this by praising Aldie and stop whatever we’re doing to engage with him at this very moment. This indicates that Aldie is seeking more and more interactions day by day. 

Some days are easy and predictable and the other days are more challenging and then there are  “lazy” days. But when spontaneous things happened it really gives me a burst of happiness no words can explain.