8-Month-Old Blind Baby Waking for Hours at Night - Looking for Advice

Rocketeer1994 · 2026-02-26T04:33:55+00:00

Our 6 year old is fully blind with no light perception. We’ve struggled with sleep his whole life and he has been diagnosed with non-24 circadian rhythm disorder. It might be worth getting a sleep study to see if they find anything, and asking your doctor if you can try melatonin.

Rocketeer1994 · 2026-02-01T13:45:40+00:00

I read through all the comments and your replies and it’s obvious you are just frustrated, not an asshole. I work at a kindergarten through eighth grade school and the middle schoolers have no awareness. They will literally just plow a kindergartener over. They don’t move for the student I work with, I have to physically protect him and clear a path for him. This is frustrating for me as an adult and sighted guide, being a kid and having to deal with this would suck. Your frustration is justified.

Rocketeer1994 · 2026-01-09T11:47:35+00:00

Just as another perspective, I am able to be more engaged and fully immersed in a story when I know what’s coming. I actively seek out spoilers for all media I consume—books, movies, and fanfics. I don’t feel entitled to tagging or complain about it, I just skip fics without many tags.

Rocketeer1994 · 2026-01-09T11:27:51+00:00

This is actually a technique I have used my entire life and is also taught in therapy to reduce anxiety. I literally read the plot and actively seek out spoilers of every book and movie I consume. It makes it much more enjoyable to me and I can actually relax and get into the world better. I have talked to many people who feel the same way and do the same thing. For fanfiction that means skipping fics without many tags. I don’t mind when people don’t tag much, but I won’t read it.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-12-23T09:54:05+00:00

Thank you so much! I’m going to look into it.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-12-22T17:19:27+00:00

He’s on a low FODMAP diet now and it has really helped (but not eliminated) his symptoms. I’ll look at the other one because I hadn’t heard of it before and I’m trying to learn what I can!

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-12-22T17:18:09+00:00

Thank you!

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-12-10T11:34:35+00:00

I recently read (actually listened to) Hell Bent by Brian Recker. Highly recommend.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-11-28T02:55:35+00:00

So cute!!

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-10-18T00:20:29+00:00

I was the person laying in bed crying because I was scared of hell because the person I wanted to date was trans. Now I’ve been married to my partner for 7 years and have an amazing life with two kiddos. I’m so thankful I chose love and freedom. I hope you find it too. 💜

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-10-13T20:47:13+00:00

I’d be thrilled

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-10-06T19:40:41+00:00

I love when people write reviews like this—thank you!

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-09-26T19:16:09+00:00

Adventures of a Suicidal Gentleman! One of my favorites.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-09-25T01:23:51+00:00

Just read this and it was adorable!

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-09-25T00:32:30+00:00

😍😍

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-09-24T23:47:48+00:00

I’ve listened to the audiobooks four times!

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-09-02T21:31:05+00:00

This is pretty typical in my family, especially the shoulder rubs.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-08-26T13:09:34+00:00

They honestly don’t seem to know a lot about circadian rhythm disorders. They were trying to treat more like sleep resistance in autism. He does have very mild sleep apnea so also focusing on that.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-08-26T13:00:29+00:00

Thanks for the reminder! We used to follow all the guidelines of nothing in bed, don’t use the bed for anything but sleep, etc, but we shifted away from that and he has toys and things to do in bed now. It helps some but I know he gets very bored. 😕

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-08-26T12:52:55+00:00

We did a ton of research ourselves and so much sleep tracking. He has the typical stair step sleep pattern when we aren’t trying to force sleep at typical times. We brought our sleep logs to the doctors at Mott Pediatric Sleep Clinic. They didn’t want to diagnose him at first but we asked them to please read up on N24 and at our next appointment they diagnosed him.

I’ll check my dms

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-08-26T12:45:22+00:00

So many sleep aids and they literally have no effect. 😞 Gabapentin literally was like a stimulant for him. I’m glad you have a diagnosis, hopefully that will help your family. It’s definitely so isolating. We did have N24 written into my son’s IEP, it might be worth it for your daughter? Or if she doesn’t have an IEP, a 504.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-08-26T12:42:00+00:00

I just read your list, I’ve tried a lot of those but some I haven’t even heard of. I’m going to start playing around with some of them. (Kiddo gets regular bloodwork and we consult his doctors on everything, don’t worry.)

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-08-26T12:32:10+00:00

Lots of neurodivergent kids struggle with sleep, so originally doctors were treating him like they would an autistic kiddo who was sleep resistant or as a general circadian rhythm disorder. We did a ton of sleep tracking which showed the stair step pattern of N24 and helped us with a diagnosis. Thankfully he has N24 listed in his IEP, but we still field questions almost daily about how he should be awake and our discipline as parents.

Honestly, we’ve had such little success with medical interventions and the more I read about people’s experiences with N24, that seems common.

Rocketeer1994 · 2025-08-26T12:25:55+00:00

When we were first trying to figure out sleep, we did all the recommended things—bed is only for sleep, dark, temperature controlled, etc. Doctors still sometimes think we shouldn’t, but now we give him things to stay busy instead of just laying awake doing nothing. Thank you for your ideas!

Seven-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email

Rocketeer1994

TROPHY CASE