Sleep and #Autism Parenting

It was a long night and I’m exhausted. Lizze sent me back to bed and left me undisturbed until I woke up on my own. Thank you for that.. ☺

I will say that it’s amazing how lack of sleep impacts, even after getting an extra long nap.

Truthfully, I feel pretty good but at the same time, I’m also feeling drained. There’s absolute truth to the notion that you cannot make up for lost sleep. You can get sleep after having lost some but it doesn’t undo what the lost sleep did.

I don’t know if that makes any sense but I bet if you asked most Autism parents if getting an extra long nap undoes the previous nights loss of sleep, I bet most would say no.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t tremendous benefit to your body and mind getting the rest. Getting rest does not undo the damage chronic sleep deprivation has on the human body and mind. It’s sorta like being stranded in a desert completely dehydrated. A sip of water isn’t going to save you. You need to enough water on a continuous basis, in order to remain hydrated. The same goes for sleep.

Autism parents often get the rough end of the stick no matter what they do. In my opinion and I believe this is also established fact, the only way to truly address chronic sleep deprivation, is to get back into a healthy sleep cycle. How you do that may be different for everyone but important nonetheless.

So while my nap is helping me to physically function right now, I really need to get quality sleep on a regular basis in order for my body and mind to function ideally.

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Becky Wiren

Getting good sleep is a real trick when you have so many sleep interruptions. I wonder if the boys can get to a place where they self-soothe? So that if they aren’t really sick, just more uncomfortable, they could try to rest without getting you up? And I have no idea if this is doable. (I’m merely throwing out ideas. Because every parent and child is different.) Like if one of them can’t sleep they just play quietly? I know when Jacob and Henry hit a certain point they would rest, try to sleep or stay awake but not get me up. Maybe knowing you are available if they really need you would help all of you? But YMMV!

Another idea re healthy sleep: has a doctor ever mentioned sleep apnea? I only mention it as it wrecks whatever sleep you do get. 3 things are key: if you are overweight, if you snore, and if you don’t remember dreaming. Doesn’t mean you have it but you could. There are sleep studies which are a pain, or you can get a device to wear at home 2 nights. I did former and husband did latter as we went through different medical providers.

I only mentioned sleep apnea because I’ve been getting treated the last year using a CPAP machine. I don’t always get quite enough sleep but the sleep I get is much deeper. I do have an overall more positive energy level. (Since it still sucks, that tells you had bad I was before!) Could be that just getting more sleep is what you need, of course.

Anyway I know you are almost always tired and I hate seeing people so tired and sleep-deprived.

Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
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