My son is now 6 years old and rolls and thrashes in his bed throughout the night. When he was a baby, he used to bang his head by laying on his tummy and then arching his back and picking his head up and then crashing it back down to the mattress. As he aged, he would moan and yell loudly when he did it and I would have to get up and settle him and cover him back up so that he would go back to "quiet" sleep. At age 3, I couldn't take not getting a full night sleep (my 1 yo was sleeping through the night and he still wasn't.) He was evaluated for developmental things and received OT for about a year for sensory and gross motor concerns. This helped him considerably in other aspects of this life, but to this day, he is still awake several times a night rolling and humming. He doesn't mind it and says it helps him fall asleep, but I feel bad that this child hasn't had a solid night sleep for his entire life!
Has anyone had any experience with this? He also thrashes in the car by banging his back and head back & forth on his seat. Other people think he is crazy and sleep overs at other places are interesting. People have thought that he was having a seizure!
Just curious if I am alone in this one! Thanks!
Well, I took my sone to his pediatrician yesterday. It was for a yearly physical. I brought up my concerns about the sleeping and she seemed attentive but not concerned. She mentioned doing a sleep study and also trying Melatonin. She said that the rolling and the banging of his head in his car seat are both sensory seeking and "nothing to worry about." She was so impressed with how great he was growing, how healthy and smart he is that she said something about how good he looked for not sleeping. When she asked my little guy about it, he explained to her that he likes rolling and doesn't want to stop! She looked at me like, "so what's the problem?"
I talked with my son last night about trying the melatonin and he again said that he didn't want to learn to swallow it and liked rolling in his bed.
I guess I am torn a little. I want to help him, yet he doesn't want to be helped! I appreciate all of your ideas and thoughts and wish that after all of this I had something different to report. I am still contemplating the sleep study, but that seems like quite an ordeal to put him through. Oh, and I am also going to get him a weighted blanket for his bed. We'll see!
Are you still getting ot or pt for him????
At this point with all this information noted by you, i would find a developmental pedia Dr. or childrens hospital and have him tested again.
My son at age 4 was tested by a team of DRs at a children hospital over 4months and were able to pin-point what was up with my son. This is something to consider, i feel that something is up here with you son, good luck to you
Hi A.,
Have you talked further with your pediatrician? Perhaps discussed a sleep study? I know this is done for children also, (not just for adults). Maybe try the OT again. Good luck, i'd be interested to hear how this goes for you.
You received some great advice from Nancy, so I am not going to repeat everything she said other than to agree. If OT worked in the past & he perceives this as a soothing ritual, you should find some other way to help him get the sensory input he needs. I have had a tremendous amount of success with a brushing treatment. We have a stiff surgical brush that I use on my son's back and arms to help him relax.
I also think the idea of an herbalist is good too. My husband, a lousy sleeper was helped with melatonin.
Good Luck.
Have you thought about having a sleep study done on him? This may get to the root of the problem.
Did the OT's ever recommend things like weighted blankets and/or magnetic blankets from Nikken? These have both helped a lot of kids I have worked with. You can get the weighted blankets least expensive at Project CHILLD in the Cummings Center in Beverly, and Nikken has a good website.
My chiroprator asked if my daughter ever did this as she has ADD issues. Talk to a chiroprator. It could be something to do with a sublexation near the brain stem. Good luck
Hi A. -
Have you talked to his pediatrician about it? Should he be referred to a neurologist just to rule out anything unusual? You said he had received OT for sensory and gross motor concerns, should you go back and focus on just this aspect? These are just a couple of thoughts on it. Hope you get if figured out. Have a good day.
Hi A.,
My son will be 5 next month and he does this head thrashing thing too. He used to moan while he did it, but that has stopped. He has done it since he was a baby. he does, fortunately, get a good nights sleep most nights. Occassionally I will hear him banging his head on the pillow or mattress in the middle of the night (I still have monitors into his room)
When we have asked him why he does it, he also responds that it helps him go to sleep.
I have also woken up in the middle of the night to find his bedroom light turned on. I don't know when he does it or why, but he does it.
I was sooooooo delighted to read your message and know that I was not the only mom with a child that did this.
Yes, we too have mentioned it to our pedi and he was not concerned.. also told us he would outgrow it, but I have my doubts.
We have also seen him do this in the car in his car seat as well.
I would be very interested to know what you learn. i.e. what works or doesn't.
Thanks for your willingness to post this.
C.
Hi A., I am not sure it is exactally the same, but my 10 yo step-son has thrashed his head for his whole life by shaking it VERY fast back and forth on his mattress (he hates pillows). He does this all the time and he aware that he does it. You can almost hear the mattress shake when he tries to fall alseep. All the doctor said he'd grow out of it as a baby or small child, but now that he is 10 and still does it, it seems as though it is something that he does to calm himself down at night and puts himself to sleep. My husband and I always worried that he be made fun of at sleep overs, but Nick, my step son, says he doesn't mind. He now goes each summer to sleep away camp for 2 weeks and doesn't seem to mention that anyone picks on him for his 'soothing', yet violent, way of falling alseep.
I'd say as long as he doesn't hurt himself and your doctor is aware, it might just be one of those things your son will do forever. Good luck.
Hi A.,
Hmmm...seems as if he is giving himself sensory input here for certain, since you mention he 'doesn't mind and he says it "helps him fall asleep", i.e. It may be as simple as a habit he has developed as a coping skill for an underlying symptom such as ringing in the ear, or as proprioceptive input (you said your son has had OT...I am sensing you'd be familiar with the term)...to use as a 'calming tool' for himself..repetitive movement soothes and calms. I have a few ideas you may want to consider based on the 'signs' you mention. Create a new bedtime pattern that includes giving his body all over deep firm pressure. Some ways to do this is through a weighted blanket...perhaps a Grammy could make one if you're so lucky:)?...look online for the proper weight to weight ratio for your child, as I forget. A good alternative to this would be to create a caccoon by having him get inside a child size sleeping bag. Also, there are bed tents which children LOVE to sleep in...a great gift for kids that process sensory information differently. In background, you can try either 'white noise'tapes (online) or one of those Baby Beethoven CDs....anything quiet and soothing, paired with a storybook, perhaps. If your little guy is banging head on back of car seat when driving, I am wondering if there isn't something going on with his inner ears, which is connected to his visual perceptual system, which really perks up when the vehicle is MOVING...shaking of the head is a common way for kiddos to sort of attempt to 'align' their visual sensory information coming IN from their environment...sort of like when you see 'double' sometimes when you move your head just right...kids will shake their heads to get RID of the 'double line' in their visual field caused when they are still and their environment around them isn't. (How does your son process swings and slides and trampolines?) Now, remember I am not diagnosing here!!! I'm just relating to you my personal experiences that have come up over the years of working with kiddos with different sensory motor processing systems as a COTA. Another approach is CST...you'd have to do your own research on this as I am a specialist in this area and would never want you to feel I am soliciting here...its just that it is a very wonderful alternative, and parents can learn simple tecniques for 'calming' easily from a trained CST practitioner. You can ask your pediatrician or your OT about it, and he or she may have knowledge of this holistic approach, as many of the major insurance companies now acknowledge it as 'acceptable'. I wouldn't know. Some do and some don't. Another suggestion is to talk to your pediatrician about consulting an herbalist for a natural herb to address the 'sleep center' of the brain...melatonin I believe it is, but there are others. (Greenwood Herbals' in Limerick Me. is a wonderful resource) Coincidence has it that you are local to me, so feel free to check out my profile should you want to. Good luck! Nz
Hi A.,
My son, who is almost 4 is a "head banger" at night. He doesn't really have any of the thrashing that you described but he has bangs his head by lying on his tummy and bounces his head off his pillow while humming. He also has done this as a baby and we asked the doctor about it back then and she was not concerned. When I ask him now why he does it, he says, "he likes it." I also have wondered about developmental things such as speech and fine motor skills so I might look further into that for him as well now that I have seen what your son needed. Our family thinks there is something wrong with him when he does that at sleepovers, too. I think the majority of it is self soothing for them. My son seemed to be doing it less a year ago but it became more frequent when he gave up his binky. I will keep you posted on anything that I find out. You are not alone!!
N. O.
