Sleep: WHY is it such an issue?!

OK - so my question to all of you is.... WHY do so MANY children (and adults too, for that matter) with autism spectrum disorders have SUCH a difficult time falling and staying asleep???

Over and/or under stimulation? This is probably the biggest problem right there. Too much outside noise or not enough. Too much outside light or not enough. Being overfull from dinner, or maybe even HUNGRY. Too much "screen time" before bed. Not enough time for relaxation before sleep. Not enough deep pressure/stimulation or maybe even too much.

--I've yet to actually figure out if anything I do with regards to this helps Ashton sleep or not sleep. It seems like whenever I get him figured out, that he changes it up on me, just to spite me! Ok, so I know it's not really to spite me, but sometimes it feels like it! I don't think our children are inherently trying to cause us strife; I don't think they master the tools of manipulation, but hey, maybe I'm wrong! :) I am tired after all! Insomnia? If insomnia is already a problem, then not sleeping is already putting you/them at a disadvantage. It perpetuates the entire cycle and makes things worse, and worse.... and even worse.

--This definitely happens in my house. It seems like the more tired he is, that the more he fights going to sleep. The evidence of this is when he's wide-awake and bushy-tailed at 2 o'clock in the freaking morning sitting in the bathroom flapping and clapping and filling up the bathtub with water. He doesn't even look REMOTELY tired at all, and you have to wonder WHY is he trying to take a bath in the middle of the night? (we asked ... we didn't get a reply, just a blank stare). I post this example because it happened last night. Luckily my husband woke up and heard it before the tub overflowed (I don't think Ashton would have known what to do at that point and I can't say that he would have come to wake us up).

Medications? I know there are some medications that make it very hard for some to fall asleep. Stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall, Focalin, etc are all stimulants that are often used in the treatment of ADHD, which many children/adults with autism have symptoms of. Unfortunately, those medications can cause problems with sleep; both falling to sleep and staying asleep. ---- Now of course, there ARE medications that are traditionally used to help one go to (or stay) sleep. Melatonin is an over the counter herbal supplement that our body produces anyways, but many people just do not make enough. People that often have erratic sleep schedules due to work, school or travel, will take melatonin to help regulate sleep. There are many other medications that are used "off-label" for sleep issues.

--Some of the ones that *we've* tried are: Trazodone, Clonidine, Imipramine, Seroquel and even the good ol' standby, Benadryl. We've tried multiple combinations of all of the above medications (in conjunction with and without melatonin too!) and while we always find something that works, it's usually very temporary. Sometimes we'll get lucky and it'll work for a few months but most combinations only work for a few short WEEKS!

I strongly believe that if my son can fall asleep at 8:15pm and have to be WOKEN UP BY ME at 6:40am, than he really NEEDS that much sleep. I can even handle him not falling asleep until 9-9:30pm and getting up at 6:40am. It's the fighting sleep and not going to sleep ALL FREAKING NIGHT (twice now he's literally stayed up for nearly 24hours straight ... once he went to sleep around 6am; last night/early this morning he FINALLY fell asleep around 4:20am....). Even when he doesn't pull that number he will fight sleep and not go to sleep until 11pm or midnight. He has to be up at the latest by 6:40am to get ready for school and be on the bus by 7:05am.

So ... any suggestions, or words of wisdom? Commiseration? Want to laugh at my misfortune? (go ahead, it's good for the soul sometimes! ;))

I went and bought a BABY MONITOR today .... for a TEN YEAR OLD! I didn't tell Ashton what it was, nor did I tell him what it was for. I made sure he had his "cocktail" of sleep medicines tonight and then let him soak in a warm bath with some lavender scented epsom salts. I turned the light off in the bathroom and made him whisper and told him *NO CLAPPING*. He was very calm and very relaxed. Got him cleaned up and then dressed for bed and put the radio on and let him lay down on the couch. He went upstairs to bed at 8:30pm (same time I took Holden upstairs for a shower) and I haven't heard a peep from him yet. This technically means we're in the clear as far as him GOING to sleep. We'll see if he stays asleep ALL night like he's supposed to. Anyways .... I KNOW someone, somewhere out there, can completely commiserate and is just as desperate for sleep as we are. So ... here's some sand from the sandman and wishing you all a good night's sleep!

GFCF Mac & Cheese!!!

Doesn't this creamy-looking dish look delicious?! Would you have guessed that it was gluten-free & casein-free? If I hadn't been the one to make it last night, I'm not sure that I would have known!! :)

What kid doesn't love a creamy, warm, satisfying bowl of macaroni & cheese once in a while? But for some children (my older son, Ashton, included) having that satisfying bowl of creamy macaroni & cheese can make them seriously ill, or even lead to a severe allergic reaction! I will let this lead me to say that prior to going on the gluten-free, casein-free diet, my son was the lover of all things macaroni & cheese. If it looked like macaroni & cheese, he'd eat it! But when, on a whim, we decided to try the gluten-free, casein-free (otherwise known as GFCF) diet for him, he could no longer have this creamy, yellow goodness! I found lots of substitutes (every one of which, Ashton would eat) but I found them to be less than stellar and some, downright disgusting! Some even smelled like dirty socks out of the package, YUCK! I was determined to find SOMETHING that I could feed to my son that didn't leave me gagging or with the desire to throw it in the trash before he dug in. So that leads me to last night.....

Well, this delicious looking bowl of creamy goodness came pretty close and was a HUGE hit with Ashton last night! I had went to Navan Foods earlier this week and saw that they now carried both the mozzarella and cheddar forms of the Teese cheese substitutes. I, being the adventurous soul that I am, decided to try the cheddar form and use it to make my son some macaroni & cheese. As I've previously said, I find that most mac & cheese subs just look nasty and smell even worse and I have no clue how they taste because I will NOT taste them, AT ALL. In one word, I find that most are N.A.S.T.Y! Well, I knew I had the pasta at home and wasn't really sure what I would use to make it but I set off with a mission in hand; to make my son a delicious bowl of mac & cheese that wasn't gross and that *I* didn't mind looking at!

So, last night was the night I decided to make it.....

I set out my ingredients

Andean Dream Quinoa Macaroni, Teese cheddar style, Earth Balance spread and Pacific chicken broth

And then I set out to make my son the most

yunmiest mac & cheese *EVER*! :)

Here is the recipe I used (I followed a tip from a fellow GFCF mom and used the broth instead of a dairy-free milk substitute .. that helped, A LOT, in regards to taste I think!)

1 box of Andean Dream quinoa pasta

1 roll of Teese (cheddar style)

2oz Pacific Organic Free-Range Chicken Broth

2 TB of Earth Balance Soy-free spread

sea salt, ground black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder (season to taste)

At this point, you get cooking! ;) I boiled the pasta according to the directions on the box. While waiting for the pasta to finish, I cut up the teese (which by the way, doesn't smell all that awful straight from the package like I was fearing it would) into small chunks and placed them in a smaller sauce pan. I then mixed in the earth balance spread as well as the chicken broth and let them simmer until the cheese was melted. Once melted, I added in the sea salt, pepper and garlic and onion powders and let it all simmer while the pasta finished.

cheddar sauce once melted .... it looks pretty runny, right?

Admittedly, I was a bit perplexed at how this watery cheese sauce was going to properly cover the pasta to give my son the macaroni & cheese I was envisioning for him.

But alas, once the pasta was drained (and I rinsed it just a tiny bit) and then mixed with the the cheese sauce, I had my beautiful looking mac & cheese!! Can you believe it?!

I WAS SHOCKED!!!!

It LOOKED like normal, gluten & casein laden, processed macaroni & cheese from a box! And even better, *I* could tolerate the smell of it! It didn't smell like Kraft, but it certainly did not smell horrible either. I even tasted the sauce (that's how impressed I was, I NEVER would taste most of the subs) and I was quite impressed! It had a creamy texture/flavor and it tasted pretty good! Sure, I like my Kraft or Velveeta mac & cheese anytime, but for my son who can't have those, this was certainly what *I* considered to be a suitable replacement!

Here, you can see, that he's enjoying his macaroni & cheese! He wouldn't smile for me because well, he was too busy eating and was getting mad that I was making him look at me! LOL!

Anyways, I hope this recipe helps any that are looking for a good recipe for some good-tasting and good-looking macaroni & cheese. Since I made the entire box of pasta and the whole roll of teese, he's got plenty for leftovers and is asking to eat more of it for today's lunch, which I will let him indulge in. Now I am anxious to try the mozzarella teese for pizza and as a topping for spaghetti, yummy!!! Thanks for looking and stopping by! :)