No More Melatonin

Still, I feel that I am dreaming. Yes, it's definitely like a dream. Every night, Tanishk sleeps very easily without Melatonin. No screams, no shouting, no crying, and no fight. When Tanishk was younger, all nights were nightmares. We used to spend hours to get him to sleep and there no night when he slept without screams and shouting.

I remember when Tanishk was an infant he had a colic problem and every night he used to cry. I used to sit with him in my lap almost every night. When he became a toddler, he was constipated. It was very difficult to get him to sleep day or night. Every time it was a one hour job.

He became so active that he started to avoid sleeping. Every time he wanted to either watch TV or videos, listen to music etc. Even we switched off the lights, he didn't want to lie down on the bed. It was very difficult for us to get him to sleep. He slept little and we were worried about his health as he was active all the time.

We talked to other parents and the doctors. Everyone suggested that we should give him Melatonin so that he can sleep easily. We started to give him Melatonin and it was very effective. He used to sleep within few minutes after taking Melatonin. It was so much effective that a very little piece of tablet also worked. I used to give him very little. We were happy that he was sleeping nicely. But still we were not happy that he needs medicine for sleeping, he should take his sleep natural way.

I tried to get him to sleep without Melatonin several times. He used to lie down, but continuously he was restless. And his behaviors (continuously touching his nose, toes, lip picking, scratch over the body, grinding his teeth, changing his sides, asking for water) & vocal stimming was not letting him sleep. Every time I was exhausted & frustrated after his sleep. So we kept giving him Melatonin.

I researched about Melatonin and it's effects - I got few articles. Melatonin Side Effects and Melatonin Side Effects on Autistic kid. After that I wanted to stop giving Melatonin totally.

One month back our friend Neena came to our house and we discussed a lot of things with her. We discussed Tanishk's behaviors and she told us about how to deal with sensory issues. She suggested us OT for him and also suggested few tips at home. We told her that Tanishk doesn't sleep without Melatonin. She was shocked to hear that and said "Are you serious? He has definitely sensory issues." She suggested that we should let him carry some weighty things so that he gets tired and feels sleepy. She also suggested that we should massage his head, hands & feet with almond oil while he is trying to sleep. This will help him sleep easily.

Surprisingly, it helped a lot. Really, it was amazing. Now Tanishk sleeps with in half an hour. He still resists, still restless, still vocal stimming. But he calms down after massage and gets to sleep. No shouting, no screaming, no tantrums. I am so much relieved now. No more Melatonin. Thanks Neena!!

New Year 2012

Year 2012 has finally come and 2011 is gone forever. 2011 was very important year for our family. I took few moments to recollect major events of this year and I got few of them in my mind & have put my post Last Year 2011. 

We did not have any plans for how will we welcome new year. There were no invitations from friends and also we didn't want to go to restaurants or bars for new year celebrations as most of those events were for adults. I am also not good at throwing party, so what to do.

Tanay has got a new friend here in neighbourhood and his parents were also new in this area. They also didn't have any plans, so we just invited them. We didn't do anything special. My husband was busy whole day working from home. He was sad about it as he wasn't able to spend his day with kids.

Half day, I worked with Tanishk with his schedule and also with Tanay. And also I did the cleaning. Tanishk was OK. Just he was doing a lot of vocal stimming. Otherwise he was in good behavior and was listening to us. But yes, he was not complying everything as he didn't want to do. But he knew what we were saying to him. 

After lunch was done, I do some preparations. I cooked paav bhaaji and Veg Biryani. I baked 2 9" round cakes. Whenever there is an occasion, I try to bake a different cake just for my experiment as I don't get any chance to do trials. So, I baked 2 GFCF strawberry cakes, put the strawberry buttercream frosting in between them, sides & also on top of the cake and decorated the cake by the almonds. All was from scratch, no readymade mix or frosting was used. 

I liked this cake very much. This was the first time, I myself was satisfied with the cake. The cake was so tasty, no one could tell that it was GFCF cake. (I think so) 

Buttercream frosting was applied on the sides too

The family came with flowers. We were happy to see them. The kids also enjoyed the gathering. Tanishk was a bit lost. We all chat with each other. We had some tea and snacks.

We had dinner. All liked Paav Bhaji & veg biryani. Tanishk ate veg biryani & Tanay ate paav bhaji. Then Tanishk cut the cake with me. All ate the cake and they really liked the cake. Yes, they said so.

After that, we went to see fireworks at metuchen. Fireworks were very good. We were happy to see that we don't need to go to see fireworks anywhere else. It's just 5 minute drive from our place. We packed all the kids tightly for not to catch cold and went to see fireworks.

Tanishk was closing his ears but he was happy - look at his face :)

Tanishk was happy to see the fireworks, but Tanay was scared because of so much noise. He was looking at the lights in the sky too, but he was crying continuously. I took him to the car and close the car door to avoid the noise of the crackers. I didn't want to torture him. 

This was the way how we welcomed new year 2012. I wish all my fans & readers "Happy New Year 2012" and success in their lives.