I have a 3 1/2 year old son who has great problems with sleep. He either does not go to sleep at bedtime (this is solved to some extent now by giving him exercises in the evening thus making him tired) or gets up early morning (generally around 4 or 4.30 am). He's unable to sleep again after he gets up at that time. He gradually becomes fresh and stays awake for about 3 or 4 hours after which he starts crying as he is very tired and sleepy.
I've been giving him Nuxvomica 200 at about 2 am for the past 1 month and it seemed to work (though he used to wake up at the same time, he would soon fall asleep). But now he seems to have developed a resistance to it and it does not seem to work any more and he still wakes up at that time.
I tried Passiflora and Avanesativa but they have had no effect.
Anybody has any suggestions as to what I can do to help him sleep through the night? Any medication that will have effect for a long time? Homeopaths please, any suggestions? Any parents out there faced similar problems like this?
Please help!

Rima, I'm sure the homeopaths on the board will give you some wonderful suggestions. I'm not nearly qualified to do that, but I do know that giving a dose everyday is not a good practice. It's possible that your child is now proving the Nux. If it were me, I'd stop administering the remedy immediately and wait for the good people on this board to give you some advice.

Lynn

Hello Rima,

I sympathize with your son's sleep problems (and your resulting lack of sleep, too). This can most certainly be helped with homeopathy, but as Lynn says, a 200 every night is way too much and he may now have developed so-called proving symptoms, i.e. symptoms created by overdosing the remedy.

It would be best if you could see a classical homeopath in person who could carry out a complete assessment of your son's health and prescribe on that basis. There are many more remedies for sleep disturbances than Nux v.!

As for practical solutions, does he still take a nap in the afternoon? If so, maybe he doesn't need that any more. What time is bedtime?

Best wishes,
Karin

Hello Rima,

I think for the moment, follow his sleep pattern. If he's getting up at 4 am, then let him sleep again at 8 am or so. BUT do not let him sleep in the afternoon - keep him active and busy, take him on outings. HE's be really sleepy and tired by 9 pm then.

Oncwe you do this for some time, he'll probably stop waking so early. HE still seems to be on a baby's 4 hourly schedule! 4 hours awake, 4 hours asleep.

Ahd yes do stop dosing him the Nux vomica.

Regards,
doctorleela

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http://www.homeopathy2health.com

Hahnemann taught to check for exciting causes before making a homeopathic prescription. As a therapist, I strongly endorse this attitude; I would apply the same advice to psychotherapy—why spend years in treatment if the problem can be solved by removing an environmental pathogen? For a (mostly civil) discussion of the issues involved, see Valerian’s thread, “Baby Girls Tantrum.”

Although childhood development leaves a great deal of latitude as to when different milestones are achieved, by 3 ½ years old your child really should be sleeping through the night. Parenting strategies might help you reach your goals, and in some situations family counseling might be recommended; participants in this BB have given good parenting advice in similar situations (again, see the thread on Baby Girls Tantrum). Dr. Leela’s advice, above, is also to the point. If these approaches work, this is fine, but I am concerned by your descriptors: your child is having “great” problems with sleep, and you say, “Please help!” If these in fact point to a somewhat more serious or persistent problem, then parenting strategies may not be enough. Are there other behavioral issues you’re concerned about? If so, I’d be happy to review them for possible clues if you care to post them here.

In brief, I wouldn’t want to ‘solve’ the problem, any more through homeopathic prescribing than through use of a sleeping pill, if that meant leaving ‘exciting causes’ untouched. Many environmental sources could lay at the root of this problem: dietary sensitivities, chemical sensitivities (see Baby Girls Tantrums for a case example of a teenager with nightmares), or even Electromagnetic Fields from television sets or other electronics. I would also be happy to review these with you if you are interested; I also refer you to Doris Rapp, “Is This Your Child: A Guide to Hidden Allergies in Children and Adults” for a broad and detailed survey of the field.

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"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

Thank you for your suggestions and guidance. I've stopped Nuxvomica now. He had in fact stopped taking naps at the age of 2. I had come to know about food allergies and stopped all dairy products for him a year back. Then there was a great change in his sleep pattern and he was sleeping through the night (except for some bad days). Now for the past 4 months, his sleep has become bad again. (his early morning wakings have become quite frequent) I'm quite strict on his diet and I dont know what is causing this. He dosent seem to have sound sleep after 3.00 am and after sometime of turing in his bed, he finally wakes up at about 4.30 am (approx. after 6 hours of sleeping) and gradually becomes fresh. Again after 8 or 9 in the morning he starts feeling sleepy. This has badly affected his attendance in school. If I do manage to send him to school, he is quite restless and screams and is quite cranky there. It then becomes compulsory to let him take a nap in the afternoon (after he comes back from school) which again would lead to his problems at bedtime because he is quite fresh again.

Dear Rima.

I really have to stop second-guessing myself. After my post, I thought to myself, I was really overreacting, and probably some changes in routine or parenting strategies would handle the problem. Now, of course, I’m quite pleased at my response—even if it had turned out to be a blind alley, it still would have opened up some ideas for review and discussion, never a bad thing. Of course, behavioral interventions may still be advisable, depending.

Anyway, since your son has already shown himself to react to dairy products, it is pretty safe to assume he’s sensitive to other environmental influences as well, especially since his improvement was short-lived after you removed the dairy from his diet. When this happens, it often means that a first layer of the problem has been stripped away, but others have taken the opportunity to step up to the front and cause their own problems. But where do we go next? A number of suggestions/questions:

1) It appears it is about 27 months since you discontinued dairy products (“a year back” beyond 2 years old?). Then his sleep was OK for about 2 + years, until 4 months ago. Is this time line correct? If not, please correct it.

2) When did he start school? Do you monitor the food served at the school? If not, then dairy might be sneaking in through their kitchen.

3) How does he get along with the other kids in school? With the staff?

4) Are there any family stressors that might affect him? Any pertinent family history? Any changes in routine or circumstances over the past several months?

Other possibilities are almost too numerous to contemplate. I strongly urge you to read Doris Rapp’s book, as you might find cases in there that remind you of your son. The ‘Fit for Life’ books by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond are also quite good. A few other suggestions (stabs in the dark):

5) You know, I like 100% cotton fabrics for blankets, sheets, pajamas, pillows, and I like to wash them in biodegradable laundry detergent. Don’t use foam (made with formaldehyde) or other synthetic materials. I would make these replacements right away.

6) Have you placed any new electronics in his room recently: a TV, a computer, a clock radio? If so, especially if they coincide with the onset of his new sleep problems, remove them from the room. Even if they’ve been there a long time, take them out for awhile anyway just to check it out.

7) Does he crave any foods? Cravings can be an indicator of an addictive or allergic reaction. Other, general food categories that can be problematic, include corn, sugar, artificial food colorings. Beef, chicken, fish—animal products in general are high energy foods and harder to digest than fruits and vegetables. Rotation dieting—eliminating one food group at a time for a period of a week at a time—could reveal some sensitivities. You might want to consult a health professional with nutritional credentials to guide this process. If you have him tested for “allergies,” find someone who knows about Clinical Ecology, the branch of medicine to which Doris Rapp contributes, as they tend to do the most comprehensive testing. If you know a homeopathic physician or a good chiropractor or naturopath who does such testing, I’d refer you in that direction first.

8) Has he been prescribed any new allopathic medication lately? Behavior changes can be side effects of medication, even if they are not documented in the PDR.

The world we live in is stuffed full of toxic chemicals and other “stuff.” It can be a daunting task to explore it fully, and to make all the changes that seem advisable. But if our health or the health of a loved one is at stake, then that is the price we need to pay.

Best of luck.

__________________
"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

Anyone with a food allergy tends to develop other sensitivities
Wheat and its products is a classic one
The use of Aluminium cookware or non stick cookware, Alum used in water treatment works, Flouride in water , tootpastes etc can all cause seroius sleep disturbance
Often the cookware is the ver last thing anyone thinks of

Does he have to pee really bad when he wakes at 4am?

Mine will toss and turn for an hour and then finally wake up and be so scared to get up and go pee if the night light's not on that by the time he does he's fully awake (at 6am).

Is he teething? Is he crashing off a sugar high from a snack before bed? It doesnt even have to be a sugary snack. The body's blood sugar drops something like 4- 6 hours after eating. Try offering a high-protein snack before bed.

That's all my ideas...

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---Jennifer<br />(just trying 2 B SuperMommy)

Thanks once again for all your suggestions. I'm tyring to implement them wherever possible.
1. Though I've informed the school about his dairy free diet, I cant be 100% sure about what he eats there. That might be a cause. (they celebrate the children's B'day parties and serve cake to them)
2.I noticed that he craves sugar (he grabs it whenever possible). Is there any substitute for sugar which I can safely use as a sweetener?
3.He was given antibiotics recently (a month back) for flu.

But anyway, I've stopped Nuxvomica for the past 4 days and the good thing is that he has been sleeping through the night(I hope this trend continues, and I can get my sleep back)!