Many parents of ASC children report sleep issues. Here are a few tips.
Sleep Clinics
- Scope have a Sleep right service, https://www.scope.org.uk/family-services/sleep-right/
- Barnardo's offers a sleep clinic. Please get in touch with your local Barnardo's at https://www.barnardos.org.uk/
- You can talk to your GP to get referred to the NHS Sleep Clinic. This could also be assessed via your health visitor
Medication
- Medication is not available over the counter
- The most common medication is Melatonin, however it is available on prescription only. It is prescribed usually when all other "better sleep help" has been exhausted. Your GP cannot prescribe this until this has been prescribed by the paediatrician. Please get in touch with your paediatrician for this.
- Although melatonin is available online, it be best to follow direction of the NHS staff for any sleep medication. Avoid buying from Amazon/Ebay and other online portal as the quality is not guaranteed and there have been known fakes.
- Some parents have reported success with the below when all else had failed https://us.yuminutrition.com/products/sleep-gummies
Others
- Sleep Milk is also something that is recommended by parents
- Lush do a sleep range that may help https://www.lush.com/uk/en/c/sleepy-collection
CBD Oil
Some parents swear by CBD oil. They say it helps child sleep better, has reduced muscle pain, and increased social communication. CBD Oil is only available over the counter. One from general stores like Holland and Barretts is supposedly less effective than one bought from specialist CBD providers. I'd recommend visiting your local CBD specialist and talking to them about dosage etc rather than buying online.