ADHD and Sleep
It’s not unusual for children with ADHD to have problems getting up in
the morning. If your child is taking medication, you might check with
your physician to find out whether or not you can give him a dose of
the medication one half hour before he awakens. You do this by coming
into his room with the medication one half hour early, waking him up,
and then letting him go back to sleep for another half an hour.
Sometimes this early morning dose can help reduce oppositionality and
thus make getting up in the morning much easier.
Sometimes sleep problems are a side effect of ADHD medication. If the
child is having sleep problems, this will interfere with his/her ability
to get up in the morning. It is important to make sure that your child
is getting enough sleep every night. If your child is having a
difficult time falling asleep, there are different things that you can
try.
If it appears that the medication is interfering with sleep, you
can try to give the medication earlier and thus hopefully reduce the
sleep problems. If it does not appear that the ADHD medication is
interfering with sleep, but the child is having problems falling
asleep, you can check with the physician about the possibility of giving
a small dose of medication one half hour prior to sleep. Sometimes
children with ADHD have difficulty falling asleep because they cannot
stop their mind from thinking. Medication taken one half hour before
bedtime can help with this problem.
This information seems to conflict. On the one hand the medication can
interfere with falling asleep, and on the other hand the medication can
help the child to fall asleep. Working with your physician and trying
different options can help you figure out the best choice for your
child
A third possibility is to utilize a reward system for getting up
appropriately in the morning. Fixing a special breakfast treat for good
mornings is one way to reward appropriate behavior. Another way is to
allow your child time to watch a special television program in the
morning if he gets up without arguments.
