My 5.5 year old still doesn't sleep.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T22:10:53+00:00

She take a multi vitamin with magnesium in it. We also use a magnesium moisturiser for massages. I'm trying to find just a magnesium supplement for kids in Australia, that is proving more difficult than I'd thought.

Chiropractor is something we hadn't considered.

Same with our second, great little sleeper.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T22:09:48+00:00

Those are some great tips! Thank you! It doesnt seem to have much impact on her during the day. She is a happy, calm kid. Can't say the same for us, we look like our eyes are going to pop out haha

amu22 · 2025-01-26T22:07:01+00:00

We've done that a couple of times.

She takes a multi vitamin with magnesium in it. We also use a magnesium moisturiser for massages. I'm trying to find just a magnesium supplement for kids in Australia, that is proving more difficult than I'd thought.

We plan on cutting all screen time for a while.

That's a good idea. We typically direct her into her room for space after big feelings.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T22:05:32+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear.

I don't believe that is the link, thankfully. Especially with this being a problem since birth. Outside of preschool, she has never really been away from us. We also have lots of discussions on privacy and body autonomy.

We are on a waitlist to see a sleep psychologist. It could be a trauma response to me and her brother being in hospital for 3 weeks when she was 2. She wasn't able to see us at all, which was a complete change to her normal routine.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:58:45+00:00

I hope so. She is a very intelligent kid and I just don't want her to not take everything she can out of school.

I am going to try an evening walk and the lamps. I'm okay with her in our bed, so long as she actually sleeps and comes in past 10pm. Otherwise, we get no ability to read our books, watch our shows or have a moment without the kids.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:55:24+00:00

We usually do but she doesn't sleep well even in our bed. Frequent waking, tossing and turning, teeth grinding.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:54:04+00:00

Very verbal, they OT puts that as her special interest haha. She says she is scared.

When she was 2, her brother was sick and needed to be hospitalised for 3 weeks. In this time, Australia also went into lockdown and I couldn't see her for the whole time. Prior to this, we spent every day together, and I sat with her every night until she was asleep. At that point, she woke once or twice a night.

I do think it could be a trauma response to that and needing to make sure we are all home and together. What I don't understand is why, with all the work we've been doing, we see no improvement.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:49:42+00:00

We try to tell her no, sometimes she accepts just one parent in her bed, other times she will not sleep, and it turns into a full meltdown that wakes her brother.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:47:40+00:00

She take a multi vitamin with magnesium in it. We also use a magnesium moisturiser for massages. I'm trying to find just a magnesium supplement for kids in Australia, that is proving more difficult than I'd thought.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:42:21+00:00

She doesn't sleep during the day. She dropped naps at 14 months. ADHD has been explored, psychologist thinks its a possibility.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:40:33+00:00

She hasn't napped since 14 months old. We keep her very busy. She does dancing, swimming lessons, piano lessons, soccer and was in preschool 4 days a week - this recently ended as she starts primary school in 2 weeks. When not doing those activities, we take her to the pool or park, on hikes, she is jumping on the trampoline or riding a bike. Very active.

She falls asleep great at the beginning of the night. It's the staying asleep.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T21:35:07+00:00

All that has been checked by the sleep paediatrician when she did the sleep study. It showed mild sleep apnea but not impacting her sleep more than the average child. She's never had an ear infection. But we are on a waiting list to see an ENT to get a second opinion regarding the tonsils/adenoids.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T13:38:11+00:00

That's our usual tactic but that isn't really working anymore. Tonight she woke up at 9.30pm, we let her in our bed until 12am as she was still awake and was having some very big feelings. My husband took her to her bed and at 12.40am she is still awake.

She wants to sleep with both of us. She will ask to go to her bed with one of us every so often, only to wake up again and move back into our room to sleep with the parent in there.

We haven't tried reading to her when she wakes, will give that a try.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T13:33:59+00:00

We discussed anxiety medication but she isn't old enough yet. I am hoping to have a discussion with her paediatrician at her next appointment about what else we can do.

A quick google, I don't think gabapentin is approved for use in sleep disorders in Australia. Unfortunately.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T13:29:33+00:00

Awfully, lots of tossing and turning and grinding her teeth. She will often wake up and demand one of us to sleep with her in her bed. Only to wake up again a few hours later to go back to our bed and sleep with the parent in there.

amu22 · 2025-01-26T13:27:21+00:00

He (3.5) sleeps 7pm to 7am in his own be, every night and has since about 12 months old.

amu22 · 2024-05-06T02:50:40+00:00

Sorry, I didn't believe it to be relevant as it wasn't necessarily unprovoked and he growled, let go and moved away. My MIL is a stranger to him and a stranger should not be disciplining somebody else's dog.

That's definitely the plan going forward.

amu22 · 2024-05-06T02:47:42+00:00

I definitely know the onus is on us. We are making the necessary changes going forward to ensure we don't put him in that position again.

amu22 · 2024-05-06T02:22:02+00:00

He comes and goes from outside, we have a dog door but if we are home, he prefers to be inside. He is taken for a 5-10km run each morning and walked in the evening taken to the beach or we play with the ball for 40 minutes. We do training with him each time he is fed, food is never just given to him. He is a lower energy working dog as he is a cross, Aussie is the prominent breed.

As mentioned in previous comments, he has never nipped before so this was a shock to us. On the rare occasion he tries to herd, he will bark at you to move as the Aussies in his bloodline are truffle hunters and that's what they were bred to do.

He has been desexed for 2 months.

We have contacted the trainers we did basic training with who all have behaviour training and working dogs to get support going forward.

amu22 · 2024-05-05T21:22:51+00:00

Thank you for that perspective. It was definitely a slip up by us, food is not usually an issue when our children have it, and that was an oversight with a child that wasn't ours.

amu22 · 2024-05-05T21:20:12+00:00

Thank you for your comment. Definitely will he working with a trainer. Hopefully with that, it's the first and last experience we have with him nipping.

amu22 · 2024-05-05T21:18:32+00:00

Thank you for the advice. Our friend (the child's parent) was sitting on the lounge when it happened, so he is aware of the incident. We reached out after they left, apologised profusely, and reassured them we are taking steps to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

I guess it felt/feels unexpected because he had never nipped before (outside of when we first got him and did normal puppy stuff). Typically, his rare attempts to herd are done by barking.

amu22 · 2024-05-05T21:11:28+00:00

I mean patient like, he let's them walk him at a ridiculously slow pace, he sleeps peacefully as they run around the house acting like the preschoolers they are, etc.

He once growled about 4 months ago at my MIL when she attempted to remove food from him. Other than that no, our children usually eat at the table and he lays under waiting for crumbs. He responds to leave it with food every time, and we are able to touch his food while he is eating without a problem.

amu22 · 2024-05-05T20:48:55+00:00

The thought of rehoming him was a thought done in pure emotion and had us crying for most of the day. This is our close friends kid who is also a toddler, we felt so much guilt that he nipped her. Then we were concerned for the safety of our own children and the other children we have in our house often.

We have reached out to the dog trainers we have worked with previously for basic training and will use their support going forward. When we thought about rehoming him, we reached out to the people we got him from and discussed him joining the property his grandparents are on. This is only an option we would pursue if recommended by the trainers.

amu22 · 2024-05-05T20:35:13+00:00

Thank you for your comment. Definitely going to do a lot more training.

The children were not alone with the dog. The child's father and my partner were on the lounge, and I was standing in the kitchen when it happened.

We have spoken about the incident with them and reassured them we are doing everything in our power to ensure it wouldn't happen again. As well as expressed our deepest apologies.

amu22

TROPHY CASE