5 Yr Old Can't Fall Asleep & Has Leg Kicks. What to Do?

It makes me think of restless leg syndrome. I did that as a child, but not every night. Tylenol helped.

Hi A.,

Your daughter would benefit greatly from adaptogens! My husband and I ordered an incredible book off Amazon titled Adaptogens, Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by Winston and Maimes. It is fascinating. From the book "There is a category of herbs called adaptogens that help the human body adapt to stress, support normal metabolic processes, and restore balance. They increase the body's resistance to physical, biological, emotional, and environmental stressors and promote normal physiologic function".

This section pinpoints the root cause of your daughter's problem and offers a solution: "Many people suffer from insomnia and related sleep problems. Stress can disrupt the regular circadian (time-related) secretion of cortisol and can be a major cause of sleep problems. Adaptogens regulate the production of cortisol, reducing stress. A relaxed, less stressful body allows for better and more rejuvenating sleep".

The 10 most potent adaptogens on the earth, with the highest therapeutic and healing properties available, are now delievered in a fast acting oral spray, called Tunguska Mist. Go to www.VitalHealth.TunguskaMist.com to learn more.

I highly recommend you try Tunguska Mist PM for your daughter. It will help her "turn her brain off" so that she can finally fall asleep fast and wake refreshed. PM is NATURAL and non-habit-forming. PM will help her relax and fall asleep naturally.

Instead of commercial drugs that can leave you drowsy and fogged in, use PM (a natural sleep aid) for a sound, peaceful night's sleep. The 10 beneficial adaptogens in PM also assist in reducing stress and improve your immune system while you sleep. They taste great and with the intra-oral spray you get over 90% of the nutrients absorbed immediately, which go to work within seconds. A serving is 6 sprays; for children under 100 pounds, 1/2 a serving is recommended. So I would suggest 1 or 2 sprays (inside the cheeks) and see how she does, then go from there.

Please let me know if you have any questions. My husband and I have been using adaptogens for a long time. We are passionate about helping people reduce the damaging effects of stress on the body and restoring balance naturally, without medications. Good luck and God Bless:)

Best regards,
N.

Hello!
I understand as we have experienced this ! It is frustrating! You sound like a good and Caring Mom! Hang in there!
There is some natural supplements from Walmart called quinine that is supposed to help some. It is not to be taken constantly.
It may help to put on cd stores to listen to. Focus on the Family website sells some good stories on tape. It gets your mind off your energy. My favorite is Your Story Hour.
These are all Christian. Having a story played with the volume down low sometimes helps. Whole Food Stores has natural sleeping supplements.
Allergies can keep people awake. Super lysine and Este C vitamins can help. These are to be taken at lunch with food, not night time.
No sugar during the day, no fruit at night, no food or sugar drink, fruit juice at night. No food with sugar in them.
Let me know if you find something that helps! I have tried to use a multipronged approach!
Prayers help!
Blessings !
Sincerely,
C. N.

We go to a child's neurologist his Name is Dr. So out of Plano he is great! My kids don't sleep he has helped alot.

I hope you get some help I do know know what it feels like to worry about your kids and not getting enough sleep!

J.

Hello A.,

Oh dear, that must be exhausting. Before going the Rx way, there are many things you can try (along with talkig w/ her doctor).

how about:
bed time: 7pm
no sugars
no caffeinated drinks (read the labels)
no sodas
no high fructose corn syrup
no artificial sugars
chiropractic adjustment
rub some lavender oil on her legs at bed time
rub her feet while she falls asleep.
sound machine?

now, here are some questions:
does she take any allergy/sinus medication? some will affect their ability to fall asleep. specially the ones with antichollergenics (I hope it's the correct spelling)

is she allergic to anything?
is she getting enough magnesium?
is she getting too much calcium?
is she drinking enough water? (kids should get less than 8 ounces of juice a day)
is she getting enough fiber?

perhaps she needs no tv/computers/electronics (besides a radio/cd to play soothing music) after 6pm (no electronic visual input).

is something bothering her? My son would not "open up" and talk until bedtime --and usually after about 10-15 minutes of rubbing his feet/back/neck/head, etc.

Good luck and keep looking for the right answer for your daughter. and for you, I wish patience, endurance and energy. ~C.~

I have no experience with this, but my niece, who has ADHD, also has a hard time turning off her brain at night, so she takes meatonin (sp?). It's an over the counter natural herbal remedy from what I understand. Maybe talk to the doctor about that. It seems to be just enough to help her calm down and relax enough to fall asleep.

You've already gotten some good suggestions from Carmen. But, since I personally have this problem as does my younger son, I thought I would chime in (and sorry if I do repeat anything). We do have to avoid all the things that Carmen mentioned, as well as addressing nutritional deficiencies. Magnesium is a biggy and they make a product called "Natural Calm" that's just Mg with some stevia - my kids like the Raspberry/Lemon flavor. Also, B vitamins are really important.

Also, another posting was trying to suggest melatonin. That is the natural hormone that your body should produce as it gets dark and it helps to bring on sleep. I do take that myself and have occasionally given it to my sons, but for some reason (and I would love to know why), they don't recommend giving it to kids regularly. It may well be because their hormonal systems are still developing and there is a delicate balance amongst all the hormonal systems.

Also, in our house we have to have a fairly long winding down routine before bed - at least 2 hours before bed we need to start winding down. We have to keep lights low, away from electronics, etc. The computer is especially bad for me personally. Reading is an ideal activity for both my sons as it seems to really help the brain and body to calm down.

The best doctor in the area (perhaps in this country) is Dr. M. Ann Block. She's located in Bedford, so it's not too far from FM. And, she has a fantastic website:
www.blockcenter.com

She can test your daughter for allergies/food intolerances to see if there isn't something that's really over-stimulating. It may seem hard to believe, but it is amazing how much a food allergen can impact the nervous system - your daughter's behavior sounds like a reaction to the over-stimulation. This testing isn't just the "scratch" based IgE allergy testing - she tests things one at a time and looks for a reaction. There's a video on the website of a boy that goes from perfectly calm to just really outrageous behavior in about 10 minutes.

Trust your intuition as I also don't think a sleep study will help at all - that's just looking for apnea and can't even come close to figuring out this problem. As you can tell, your understanding and insight into the situation far exceeds that of your doctor. With my kids I found that I had to do all the research and find all the specialists, BUT I have found out so much that has helped my family that I NEVER would have learned from the pediatrician, most of whom have very little if any training in nutrition or understand anything about food allergies (beyond an anaphylatic reaction to peanuts).

And, as you know, it really, really is important to get to the root of these things before the kids hit puberty, as getting them to make dietary or lifestyle changes is very difficult then. We learned that both my boys (and myself) are intolerant to gluten (protein in wheat, rye, barley and oats), as well as dairy. Gluten and dairy actually can impact the brain as they have an opiod effect (there are several hundred scientific/medical research articles on this topic in pubmed), thus they can contribute hugely to some of these issues. My younger son has calmed down dramatically (and sleeps MUCH better) since going on the GF/CF diet (and of course, avoiding artificial colors, sweeteners, HFCS, etc.).

A.- I do think you should consult your doctor again, or go and see a neurologist. I think you are correct in thinking a sleep study is not the appropriate test in your circumstance. It seems to me your daughter has one of two things... either a condition called myoclonus (which usually happens when you are tired and can be exacerbated by exhaustion) or Restless leg syndrome. My husband has similar problems and was treated by a neurologist and is doing much better. Hope this helps!!

My kids had aches and pains in their legs at about the same age. I took the oldest to the doctor. (The younger always gets the benefit of what you learn with the older.) I learned that there really is such a thing as growing pains and it is perfectly normal.

A relaxing soak in the tub before bed can help ease the muscle tension. Bananas are a terrific source of potassium, which can be a factor with leg cramps. Try a gentle leg massage at night rubbing lotion on her legs.

The leg jumping is a pretty normal reaction when falling asleep. I've woken myself up on occasion that way. That could be what your daughter is doing and then she's keeping herself awake.

One of my daughters and my granddaughter have always been go-go-go. With both of them, they get more hyper the sleepier they get. Then they'll start bumping into things, etc. if you can get them to relax for one minute, they totally conk out. My granddaughter has fallen asleep literally standing up. She's also fallen asleep laying on the dog. Half under the bed petting a cat.

Doctors love to do tests and use all their fancy equipment, especially if the insurance will pay for it. Before you trot her off to specialists, why not try the simple stuff first? A massage pad that vibrates may help her ease on to sleep. Allowing her to read quietly for a half hour after her bed time may help her to shift her gears down. Journaling (writing the day's events in a secret diary) is another helpful routine.

I think I will try that "Pm" spray with my son. But I have to admitt I do give my son a benydryl if he just can't sleep. He is almost 12 and weighs over hundred lbs. Sometimes I just give him a half. It just takes the edge off and he can sleep. He has to have his "movie"on, at night when he sleeps as well. The movie is the Princess Diaries at the moment. He has seen it like a thousands times, he doens't really even watch it, it is just background noise. Otherwise he worries. He worries about comets and tornadoes, Yellowstone erupting, you name it. We try praying,reading, exhausting him, music... He is exteremely intelligent and just has a hard time winding down. He can go to bed late and almost always gets up very early. Not that we were'nt stressed as kids but now days the world seems even scary and no matter how we try to shelter them some garbage gets in...poor kiddos...Just a note, from infantcy we read to him every night and played his night time music. About 7 he just stopped going to sleep well and we put a tv in and only let him watch a movie he has seen many times so that he can not concentrate on it and just fall asleep. We also tried reading, and sometimes he does, he has many fun books in his room. Good luck. I also was told by an ortho dr. to make sure your child has enough calcium to help the legs. I was told kids can't absorb calcium from chocolate milk, only use white , bananna or strawberry. I too have sleep problems, obviously it's 4 am right now, could they just be inherited? Although, I am still on a nursing schedule of every few hours, BUT my baby is now going longer, I am just waiting for the boobs to catch on...