Our autistic son had trouble falling asleep for years and we tried out lots of stuff until he managed to explain what the real problem was for him: he didn't know HOW to fall asleep. What you are supposed to do in bed. So we explained it to him: you have to stay still, breath calmly and wait. And it worked! We are still baffled. Sometimes it can be such a little thing that makes the biggest difference. Hope this comment helps someone!

No sleep is really tough your precious kid and you! We make sure lots of movement/calming activities,to help with sensory issues and a good diet. He's come a long way through a lot prayers.God has been so good! Thankful for your channel. God bless you all!

my son is 2 years old and experiences sleep deprivation as well. He is on the spectrum too but I remember one day in the summer he would wake up at midnight, (put him to bed at 10pm dont at me lol) be awake till 7am (ugggghhhhh) fall asleep for 3 hours after and when he woke up at 10am he had a huge smile on his face and started clapping his hands when he saw us :'> its rough... but seeing that smile gahhh my heart melted. I tried some of your tips and its sort of working! its just hard to put him on a routine due to our jobs :'> much love to you and your family

I feel so sad for your son Alister, he was upset about something that bothered him. One thing I can say is you handle their sleep problems very well both you and your wife. My cousin Trey cried during the night 2 times while he stayed the night at my house more than once. I would talk to him until he would fall asleep.😊😊😊

Oh my goodness bless his heart:( He is so upset about his nose bleeding! 😭😭 Poor guy! 😭

I had trouble sleeping throughout most of my toddler years. At 8, I sometimes would get up at midnight. When I had adenoid surgery one week before my 10th birthday, I managed to sleep well from there most nights. Today with a lot going on at home, I put on silicone earplugs and play relaxing music.

you are such a caring dad, wish i parents like you

Listening to very low, very soft classical music helps many people to fall asleep, even if they are not a fan of this kind of music. Just an orchestra, no human voices singing. It really calmes down, you concentrate/focus on it and finally you fall asleep. Others helps it to listen to human voices reading from a book. Also very low, very calm. You can find a lot on KZfaq or wherever you find audio books. Just one single voice, reading a very calm, peaceful story, no adventure or a lot going on in the story. Sometimes you can use the same book over and over again, because you never make it even to the middle of it, before you fall asleep 😅. I'm not autistic, but I've got massive sleeping problems. These two things help me a lot and maybe it's an idea for somebody else?

I am on the spectrum and my doctor prescribed a medication to help. I have found pink nose (the sound of rain, storms, the ocean etc) helps very much. Also, I use a tempurpedic sleep mask. Melatonin didn’t help me at all. Moon milk, helped a little. That’s almond milk and tart cherry juice warmed up. I also have a pretty consistent routine. I know, medication, shower, pajamas, bathroom, teeth, hot drink, dark room, iPhone is out of the room, pink noise turned on and weighted blanket signals me to kind of calm down and start to sleep. My bed is just a twin but it has a feather mattress cover and 2 feather beds (making it very soft) and so it’s very comfy.

I actually have a lot of trouble sleeping as a person with autism. I've gotten used to melatonin and that had a reverse effect. But then I started listening to stories before bed and that help me drift off to sleep. And they are scary stories( you can blame my mom for that, she and I love horror) and usually they keep you up at night but they actually helped me sleep. And I've had a better sleep schedule ever since.

I’ve been dealing with this for my entire life this really helped

I really struggle with sleep from autism, adhd and my anxiety. I’ve had issues for years. I found things that work for me but it still a struggle to fall and even stay asleep. I had night terrors growing up and even sleep paralysis. Sleep was never a « friend » of mine, even though I always needed it. For me comfort items, weighted blankets, a fan and even having a tv with aquarium sounds help me so much in sleeping. I’m married now to an autistic husband (he has no issues with sleep and is in bed before 9pm every night) and even though I still struggle with sleep, I have found that I can now self sooth myself to sleep and when I do wake up from nightmares or whatever I have a safe haven to remind me that I’m OK.

Melatonin backfired big time so I only resort to it occasionally. It would help my daughter crash fast, at first, but she would wake up in the middle of the night and not go back to sleep, accompanied by bad mood problems and regression back to bed wetting again with straight melatonin. I am using and observing her using gummies with mostly L-Theanine and/or L-GABA now. They can be used during day as well, since they are supposed to reduce brain excitability and anxiety (ie stress reducers). I tried playing sleepy music for her at bedtime on KZfaq too, and luckily she caught on to that and found some she likes. She is a teenager now but she loves the ones with baby lullabies; she loves seeing the images of sleeping babies and the lullaby music. I also just have to let her eat like Ms Pacman and fill that tummy up, get the bath or shower, and hope for the best. She is better, but still up sometimes until 5 am, but usually not with meltdowns and crying, usually sitting up on her bed giggling at goofy stuff she finds on KZfaq.

For me accommodations (like a weighted blanket or dark lighting) can keep me calm, but they can’t make me sleep, my body has to do that on its own. So insomnia is like this battle between like calming down and comfortable, and then my body registering I actually want to sleep. I mean MOONLIGHT can ruin my whole night. And mattresses are definitely important, because an uncomfortable mattress ironically doesn’t have to be the thickest or most expensive, it’s whichever one actually works.

Things that work for me is having a fan on as well as a weighted blanket with like 3 other blankets over me. It helps if my room is cold. Idk if that’s just me though

Im in the same medication as Ian and it does make me drowsy but it seems to help.

Baby leaf tea helps with sleep 🙏✨🤍✨ My son is 8 years old and severely autistic and nonverbal. Sending you love and light. Praying for you all! 🕊️

Yay another video!!!!!

I just want to say that your family’s KZfaq channel has been a godsend and lifesaver. As a parent of a three year old boy with autism, I am forever grateful. Thank you for what you do.

My grandson used to have night terrors a lot - thank God he grew out of them! Mostly. What he uses now to go to sleep is my cell phone set to "trucks for toddlers" on KZfaq. He also likes the "tree". When he's sick, I play a healing frequency for him (sister too) to gently put him to sleep. There's a 528hz golden "tree of life" that plays super smooth sounds. He even asks to listen to it when he's not going to sleep! His sister is another story. She's younger and will stay up forever unless you sit in the room with her. She'll lay down and fall asleep easily then. I'm going to get weighted blankets for both of them and see how those work.

I really enjoy Autism dad's funny skits and hope we continue to see more in future videos! Thanks for making me laugh.

I struggle with this a lot 😢 I'm glad that I'm not alone! My dad sings the Dutch lullaby wynken, blnyken, and nod. I have night terrors a lot. How is Ian doing with braces? I have them too and I'm autistic 😊 My dad is thinking an autism service dog for me to help with a lot of things.

Thank you for posting videos like these: They are very informative and helpful to other Autism-parents! I appreciate that you share such personal items about your family; It helps us all to better understand and learn from what you have!

I'm going through the same issue with my grandson now. Thanks for sharing-- it really helps me.

Something i do to get me to bed is i normally read before i go to bed but sometimes that does not work i am a very light sleeper i also have autism but normally reading really helps me.

You said that some people on the Autism Spectrum describe their need to release sensory output as 'ants on their bodies' and I can definitely relate! I get that sensation a lot. It's very rare, but I can also have a hard time sleeping. Sometimes it's because my pajama shirt or blanket keeps touching my neck (my neck is very sensitive) and that might affect me for a month, but other times I can't sleep because of my Anxiety.

Your videos are extremely important for people on the spectrum and I bet you have helped so many people with asd and parents and caretakers for people with asd with these informational videos you guys are amazing!

Awwww apocalypse so sweet. Yes my son too has issues going to bed at a normal time like midnight lol. I give my son chamomile tea it really helps.

I'm so glad I found your channel! It helps me so much to hear others share their experiences, I don't feel so alone in this situation. My son, who will soon be three, has recently been diagnosed with autism level 3. He has trouble waking up after only 1-3 hours of sleep and it's been so tough since I'm a single parent. We have now started testing liquid melatonin and it works quite well so far. Thank you for sharing! God bless you! Love from Sweden ❤❤❤

This is one of MANY reasons so many of us on the spectrum turn to drugs and alcohol, sadly.. I personally find marijuana edible calms the mind and helps with sleep... Side effect: less depression, and overall better sense of well-being.... Shrooms and microdosing are VERY HELPFUL with ASD sensory and social issues better than anything tried for other symptoms. Mother nature has already given us the meds we need.... Hope this info is helpful to the community.

I found that putting ear plugs in has drastically improved the quality of my sleep. I hope this suggestion helps. 💤💤💤

My young son with melatonin, I started out with 1/4 recommended dose for him. It gave him such horrific, scary, and vivid dreams. So we had to stop it.

I'm on older guy on the spectrum---a life coach helped me with this for the first time. I keep a checklist of things to do before bed and cross things off as I do them, I get off electronics at least a half hour (or more) before bed. I turn down the light (a PT recommended smart lights which changes the spectrum of light). I eat somthing light (yogurt, cottage cheese, a little peanut butter on some crackers, etc). I play with something that requires no electronics (i have some sensory toys for this, tumi blocks, etc). I use a weighted toy (was scared of the blanket because I have a cat that goes under my blanket). I do all this every night, I know my routine now and can tell myself when it's off. I take CBD, (a product with CBD/CBN is esp useful which helps me a lot more than melatonin, btw.

My kids sure have been having a difficult time sleeping and transitioning into a different school due to us moving into a new school district, and so it's makes me have problems with sleeping 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

My name is chloe, and i am in grade 5 term 2. Its the start of the term and went back on Tuesday i went to school on Tuesday but didn’t for the rest of the week, i wasn’t sick i was healthy and ok. I just hated school + i have autism and ADHD which makes it worst to go to school, So id need to be homeschooled. I have to still go to school for the rest of the term until term 3 then ill be homeschooled, school is a stressful place for everyone. I wanted to share my story to help others experience what it is like. So i like watching your vids to help me get more information on autism and how to control myself a bit more.

I always use cool down music and even calm sounds of the beach and nature. They help me sleep.

You are great parents, if not the greatest, god help u and all plp with autism children 😴❤️

Thank you so very much for sharing.

I have Autism and I lose a lot of sleep but I don’t cry and I don’t keep my parents and my siblings up at night take melatonin it helps me to fall asleep but it takes a while for it to kick in

She has a beautiful singing voice and I love the videos

Brittany singing that hymn was super relaxing!!! I can definitely see how that would help. I’m very religious myself so I love that.

I am most probably on the spectrum, undergoing a diagnosis as a minor in the UK so life is slightly different! I've been watching your channel for awhile and I've realised that I'm not on my own, ever. I usually do suffer with sleep deprivation but since I live on a busy road all I can hear are the cars which calms me down.

With our limited knowledge of how the brain functions we may not understand for a long time, if ever, how neurodevelopmental disorders affect those portions of the brain that are necessary for efficient, regular sleep. Sleeping disorders does seem to be very common with people with autism.

Wow this was so informative for a new mama like me Thank you 🙏🏽 ❤

I am autistic and my son is not diagnosed yet but most likely on the spectrum aswell. For us it is very i mportant to share the bed with him, he is four. He cant accept touch if he is awake, its just senory overwhelming for him. As he was 2 years old, i started cuddling him when he was asleep an it changed a lot. It took three nights till he came cuddling for one moment at daytime. He is more balanced and our relationship is better. The human body needs touch, no matter if autistic or not. Its very important for our physical and mental helth and for the bond between child and parent in both directions and if this is the only possible way to give my child that touch i accept his elbow in my ribs at night

Many thanks for sharing this information

Love this video 😊

I'm autistic and struggle massively with sleep. One thing I do every night is put on youtube videos that I've watched many times before, so I'm not paying attention to it, I turn my phone screen down so I don't watch it, I'm just listening to the talking. A lot of Stardew Valley youtubers have very calm videos that work well for relaxing and winding down, and because I've seen them before, they're predictable, and I'm not paying attention to them, they're just background noise.

I just honestly need this More than anything

Did you notice that your kiddos on the spectrum had sleep problems from a very young age?! My almost 3 yr old son has not been diagnosed on the autism spectrum as of now but he definitely has some stuff going on not sure if it’s a sensory disorder or autism/adhd etc but definitely has things. We are currently waiting for a evaluation (1 yr wait list) so it’s been rough not knowing exactly how to help my little boy which is soooo hard. I’m currently trying to get him a private OT & private speech pathologist because where we live the early intervention program has had a huge increase of need in services that the wait list for anymore help than we are receiving is so long. I do not want to see him continue to get behind sooo far that he’s nearly impossible to catch him up. Thank you for all the videos you & your family make for all of us. ❤❤

I have Autism and I’m 31. As a child I got bloody noses all the time especially in elementary school at Recess and nobody would play with me and now as an adult they all of a sudden just stopped. But now as an adult I can’t sleep at night but I do sleep during the day and working overnight shifts are perfect for me. I do get nightmares every night and after losing my best friend AnnaBelle (my dog) because of my autism my only friends are dogs and cats and rats because humans are just so mean to me. A couple offered to pay me 1 million dollars for my service dog the same dog who recently passed away at 15 years old. She has a bad heart murmur. She went to heaven now my life is bad again. I have abusive parents and I can’t go into a orphanage because I’m 31 but in Texas it’s legal to adopt an adult but only if they are special needs. I googled it because of my abusive and alcoholic parents hitting me and kicking me in my stomach all the time and making me not wanted to go out in public because of all the broken bones and broken ribs and bruises. They never ever hit my younger sister at all. I’m an actress and a model now and have a boyfriend and my parents don’t like him because they won’t let me ever be happy. Also I can’t go to sleep at night unless I have at least two dogs with me and have to watch Friends in order to sleep. Watching Orphan right before bed yeah not my best idea. I keep shaking so bad at night but watching Friends don’t have a problem. It’s is normal for an autistic adult to fall asleep on the floor or on a dog bed because the dogs hog the bed. One of my dogs actually kicked me so hard he pushed me off the bed.

Hi!!! Just wanted to tell you that You’re such Amazing parents!!! ❤❤❤

Thanks for your information ❤

Very helpful thank you!

Our Boy works REALLY WELL with routines, its hard to force them, but once he gets on to them he Will follow them. He is bipolar when comes to socializing and the ONLY and most eficient way we found to make him speak more and interact its with a tablet just to watch KZfaq pre aproved/selected by us vids (mostly to avoid Brasílian since its close to portuguese and we dont want confusion on the learn curve, puting that aside, he normally knows je arrives home, takes the shoes off, tiddy (his way) the bed, hangs the jacket things like that, whe. Its close to sleep we put him on his selected pijama and he knows, while i shower, he sees the last bit of TV. BUT he need medication to sleep, otherwise he stays all night ON and gets grumpy ofcs. Also he as stricted sleeping hours... He sleeps exactly 8h.... So the early he get to bed the early he wakes up...

I know what the kids feel like I have autism and I can't sleep at night I recamend calming music I love your videos thank you.

Melatonin worked for my grandson combined with a set bedtime routine. After a while, we eased up on the melatonin. We sampled various white noises and found that brown noise with an ambient piano lulled him to sleep. Yay!

thanks for your help

Love these sit down videos, just of pure information. Yeah night terrors are something no one can imagine how awful unless you've actually seen it first hand. I've tried to explain it to my family like this, imagine the sounds and emotions and physical body movement that would be, if a demon came to snatch you up and drag you to h.e.l.l. like omg I remember when my 4 year old first started getting them, under 2 years old, clearly never watched or seen anything to ever make him react that way and I couldn't understand why, I would cry! Doctor told me not to touch him b.c he could think it was part of the dream. I just try to talk him out of it. But sometimes I have to grab him b.c he will kick and throw himself out of his bed. Red dye I am starting to think maybe is an contributor to night terrors. Can't say for sure yet. Thanks for all you do. I need to work on a more solid routine.

When I was little I always slept half of the night with my Mom. Now that I’ve older I use sleeping meds and I have a weighted blanket. But I do have a hard time sleeping mostly because of my seizures

I love that movie it’s my sons favourite we just watched it three days ago lol.

Not a sleep-related tip, but my sinuses tend to become dry and I use saline nasal sprays like Ocean, or various store brands (like the Rite Aid, CVS, or Target brand names) with the same ingredients that say something like “compare to Ocean” or “Compare to the ingredients of Ocean” on them. I find that these products are very affordable and work well for me. You might want to ask Alistair’s doctor if a product like that could help to prevent nosebleeds and also help with any sinus congestion that he might have in addition. His doctor may be able to mention when to use these products and when not to use them.

great tips.

honestly i have struggled with sleep my whole life, i now stay up till like 12 or 12:30. i take melitonin and sometimes i listen to ASMR. i also have more energy at night then during the day.

0:52 “the apocalypse” he said makes sense because he thinks it’s an infection that causes a bloody nose

Get a Cool Mist Humidifier for the bedrooms it helps with nosebleeds. Just keep them clean. God bless!

Brittany has a nice tune to her voice when she was singing to Alistair

Thank you. Thank you. Last night was one of the worst nights in regards to how long it took my son to get to sleep / finally shut down. It was as of he had a motor that wouldn't stop...My son just turned 3 and was diagnosed earlier this year with ASD.

"Like rice, oats are a “good” carbohydrate that can help lead to better sleep. Whole oats are a great source of melatonin, as well as tryptophan. Oats are also high in fiber, B vitamins, and lots of minerals. A bowl of oatmeal is a great way to start your day, and it can be a great way to help you sleep too!"

Sir i just subscribed to your channel my son also is diagnosed with autism his 4 years old

I used to get night terrors, I don't as much as I used to. 😥 As for the bloody noses, maybe try to put Vaseline in nose (if he'll let you). Where I live, it's a pretty dry climate as well.

God bless your sweet family. Both of my boys are autistic as well. The oldest doesn't sleep. I am a zombie mom at this point.

Soft music helps me alot with my kid..

I'm on the spectrum as are my 2 kids. My teenager manages her own sleep problems without my help but the 7 year old gets me up every night at least once, usually 2-3 times. Additionally I'm going through menopause and have my own sleep problems, which is awful because I need at least 8 hours sleep a night and am not getting it. Melatonin gives me nightmares but sometimes benadryl helps. I am a light sleeper and often find myself awake because I'm expecting my son to come get me to help him back to bed. Today I am barely functioning and I just want to cry. I go to bed exhausted but can't sleep unless I'm medicated, but then I'm groggy the next morning. The struggle is real. Thank you for the video, I will try some of your tips. God bless you and all my spectrum family

I use to could not get to sleep when I was younger so I do feel really sorry for poor Alister ❤ I know what Alistair going through can't go to sleep

As an adult on the spectrum, definitely routines help like exercise during the day. Reading and sometimes melatonin

Thanks for the advice. My son too is having trouble sleeping and not able to wake up to go to school so he is always late for school. 😢😢

autistic adult here. I have severe insomnia and I've cried multiple times because I couldn't sleep no matter what. I had to drag myself to uni classes without 1 min of sleep a lot and it's just absolute torture. it can make it extremely difficult to be even remotely functional.

Soft and love music helps me alot.. 🇵🇭🇵🇭

My son is now 20 and he still has problems falling asleep, most times when this happens is when thing change in his day to day routine, I try to keep things the same but things happen and it just throws him off then we work anywhere from a day or two to a week before he is back to a more normal sleeping schedule. I have to agree that it still effects me also because I then don't sleep myself because of listening for him because he will run up and down our stairs keeping my mom awake and then I have to get him back to his room and explain to him that he can't run around because other people have to sleep.

I’m an autistic individual, and this showed up on my recommended today when last night, despite only drinking one protein shake with the caffeine content of coffee I was not able to sleep until almost 6 AM. Sleep deprivation is a real problem for people with autism and well People just tell us to sleep more they don’t realize how hard it is to actually sleep. I’m currently functioning on less than two hours of sleep. However, somehow after drinking five Baja blasts(each one has 86mg of caffeine, which means that I drank a total of 430mg of caffeine, which is more than an energy drink I somehow fell asleep before that

I have a 30 year old son with Autism. He has trouble sleeping through the night. I do find that a bedtime routine helps a little which gives him the cues for bedtime. When he was in the hospital back in 2020 I downloaded a meditation music album 30 songs that I played for him while sleeping in hospital to help drown out noise in hospital room. When we brought him home he would turn on the meditation music on when he heads to bed. I did have to delete a few songs on the album that I noticed he would wake up and skip through a song he didn’t care for, also I noticed some songs that were making a sound that would wake him and me up like high pitch flute that was annoying lol. We have him do gym Monday thru Friday and incorporate swimming sessions throughout the Year even in winter months in California. CBD for nighttime has worked, but I don’t give it to him every night just when I feel he needs help sleeping. Baths are good too. Add Magnesium crystals (Epsom salt) in bath water. *Please be aware that if on lithium I do not recommend Bath salt. My son bloated up when he was on lithium, but he is no longer on medication.😅 Thanks for your information.

I go to sleep very late and wake up very early in the morning. I am unable to sleep long and I don't know why

I’m not religious, but Brittany is a great singer

I had to learn my son how to fall asleep. Sometimes it took like two hours. But the key is to be strict, having clear rules and insist on them. He was around two and a half when we got rid of a dummy and real struggles begun. So we settled these rules: lay down, don't talk or sing (not a single sound), do not play with hands and legs and close your eyes. We kept fondle his hand and each time he broke any of the rules we stopped. That was a clear sign to him that he did something he shouldn't. Once he realized what was wrong, we continued. Sometimes, at the beginning, I even needed to hold him tight until he stopped digging or trying to sit down, or even manually keep his eyes closed. It was a fight but now he knows how to calm down by himself. Never shout at them, always explain why they need to do what you want. I did all of this kind of intuitively. I expected from the beginning that I need to learn that child EVERYTHING. What a surprise with my younger daughter - she knows a lot of that by herself. Since she was born I put her down in a bed and in a minute she falls asleep by herself. The older one still needs some assistance, especially at night (he suffers from night fears 3-4 times a week). He shares a room with his dad, he fears to sleep alone. I sleep with the younger one. Magnesium helps me (I am also on a spectrum) to fall asleep again and again while being woken up 10 times in 3 hours.

I am on the spectrum and have always had trouble sleeping I'm 33 now. I have meds to help but some nights they don't work and I'm up till 12am most nights. I just watch KZfaq and eventually I'll fall asleep

There's a bed for kids called the cubby bed. It's made for kids that have things like autism. It zips so they won't escape or fall out. Has a tempature cage and I think some have cameras. Insurance usually pays for them. Like they're like $8000

For me and my son melatonin works. He gets 1 mg 5 night a week.In 30 minutes He falls asleep. I will wake up sometimes in middle of the night after melatonin and I can not fall asleep. I noticed that magnesium supplement help me fall asleep and sleep whole night but I need use it for 2 week for effect on kik in. Thx for this video.

Oh wow yeah my son gets dark eyes I thought it was allergy related. But yes all of those things are great. Also be mindful of any new things the child might have endured. New person, place, toy etc. can also keep child up. Massages also helped on the back while they lay flat on their stomach but input and output is very important. Sleep berry by joy spring is great option as well

Hey you might wanna see if Allister has a deviated septum in his nose. That can cause nosebleeds. I had nose bleeds a lot when I was a kid and struggled a lot with a stuffy nose and turns out I had a deviated septum I’m getting surgery to fix it in a few weeks. Also for sleep I’d recommend some herbal sleep blends stuff with Valerian root. I’d stay away from prescription sedatives those can be really addictive I got hooked on ambien for awhile it was hard to get off.

A good brest feed works as well

Proud Heart Cat--->🧡 😺 🧡

My two year old still sleeps in a pack n play - he sits up and rocks aggressively so he has to be in something like that with soft sides like that. When he is ready to go to sleep he does his best to wriggle down between the fabric side and his mattress, like he makes a little nook to sleep in. Any recommendations for a bed setup that might give him this same compression sensation? FYI he won’t sleep with a weighted blanket or compression garments.

It's still a challenge even when it seems his tired he still has sleep issues it's falling asleep and than the other is staying asleep we keep trying to tweak it here and there as we go

And u have helped me. I'm 10

178 likes👍👍👍👍 I forgot give u question but you already answer my question, lol... ❤❤❤ oh I think this question is when are you do ur house tour video? Just ask I know you busy family.. ❤❤😮😮😊😊

When it comes to Alistair's bloody noses, try using Vaseline or maybe a humidifier.

My nephew used to have night tears it was so scary seeing him looking at you and being terrified I just wanted to help him but you just have to wait until he has woken up. It is one of the worst things that can happen to youg people

Does your son have a humidifier in his room? That would help a lot with the bloody noses!

Not sure about what would help with the sleep deprivation, but Auvelity feels like a built-in weighted blanket that helps to soothe anxiety. Also, it doesn't dull the senses, and it doesn't seem to cause any rebound anxiety or side effects. The only thing I would caution against is daily use. No matter what Axsome Pharmceuticals says, that medication is better if used on an occasional as-needed basis.