Burn Out

[Serendipity]

The way you described your son was like reading about my own. He is now 21 years old but even as an infant and through out his childhood he slept VERY little. His average daily sleep amounts were around 8 hours per 24 hour day until he was about 15 months old. At that age he stopped napping during the day altogether and slept for only about 5-6 hours per day. He is still to this day one of those people who simply does not sleep very much. He is healthy and has no issues from lack of sleep so I am not concerned about this as I am the same way and rarely sleep more than 6 hours at one time and I certainly never nap.

My son is also classified as a genius and has a very high IQ. His interests also are focused in math and science areas and can at times be a walking encyclopedia. As a small child, he was tested for ADD/ADHD, Aspergers and several other similar things, all of which he never quite fit into the categories enough to be labled with any of them.

He does have trouble calming himself enough to relax and go to sleep so over the years he has developed some routines that help. He does things like taking a long hot shower or bath before bedtime, turning the lights down low, NO ELECTRONICS of any kind and plays soft relaxing music such as ocean waves or a rippling stream. He also eliminated ALL red dyes from his diet and that helped tremendously.

He does suffer from severe migraines at times but other than that has no health issues and is basically pretty darn healthy. I too am really healthy and have no health issues due to lack of sleep. I just can't seem to stop my mind from going long enough to ever get past that 6 hour mark. 5 hours is a pretty average night for me.

[bright sparks]

The way you described your son was like reading about my own. He is now 21 years old but even as an infant and through out his childhood he slept VERY little. His average daily sleep amounts were around 8 hours per 24 hour day until he was about 15 months old. At that age he stopped napping during the day altogether and slept for only about 5-6 hours per day.

This is quite incredible as my son slept through the night a good 10 hours till just over the age of 1 and then everything went to pot! He slept strapped into his stroller in a 5 point harness for about 6 weeks at the worst point because not only would he not sleep, but he decided that he would scream histerically and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING would calm him. Walks, drinks, music, playing, movie, drive in the car, bath OMGoodness it was tough for those few weeks and then eventually we found a movie that he would shut up and watch on continuous repeat like a little toddler zombie lol. This didnt last more than the 6 weeks and he started to get into his pattern of waves like now. Periods of great sleep followed by periods of pure insomnia. His temperment never waivered and I just got used to it. He gradually got back to having an average of 7 hours a night and he would stay in his bed if he was awake. It seems to be the last 3-4 years on and off that it has gradually gotten worse.