help with sleeping arrangements for 5yr old "wild" girls with autism/adhd

[twins2again]

Hi, well we manage to make it to disney every year,driving ,no less with our twins ,and have always come up with some solution,pack and play ,crib tents for the pack and play, even a tent thats for pets {canvas with mesh sides and door that zips on outside, huge ones,42 inches long but this year they were too long and opening the doors anyway,what do people do with kids that wont stay in bed and sleep normally? we have 4 other kids that travel with us and we usually get one room for my husband and other kids and one for me and the twins but We are at a loss as to what to do. we dont think they will settle down in the room and one sleep with my husband and one with me and also they can open the door to the motel/hotel rooms. The dr is trying meds on them as we speak so maybe they will calm down by next dec
any suggestions or experiences? Thanks in advance,oh if anyone saw the twins in a double stroller kicking and hitting each other,the first week in dec,thatd be me ---- we are going to get individual special needs strollers next time! They love and live disney every day so we have to go!

 

[bookwormde]

I might suggest trying to see if you can “build a nest” using quilts, pillows and furniture, you may even want to put a top on it (blanket). This can be difficult in a set of standard hotel rooms. If you are off site there are lots of 2br and a few 3br suites with kitchens, which might work well or rent a house. On site is a little more difficult (expensive) but renting a 2br DVC on the weekdays and junior/family suite on the weekends might work and give you the extra room while being contained.

bookwormde

 

[mechurchlady]

Make sure you have a ground floor room. Have ID on them and label clothes if you can so people will know who they belong to. Is there something they are fearfull like cats because you could put a cat on the door handle, lol.

Doorstop alarm or just an old fashioned door stop will help as you want to make it so they cannot get out or if they can then to slow them down. A whole row of old fashioned doorstops should keep them busy for a while.
http://www.personalarms.com/home_alarms/door_stop_alarm.htm

http://www.christinecolumbus.com/products.asp?pID=715
My father would take something like that and make it so a padlock could be attached. He was good at that.

 

[Schmeck]

I'd recommend staying at a resort with interior hallways if you are overly concerned that the girls might leave the room in the middle of the night. That way, there's one more barrier to getting loose and out into the darkness. I'd not want a first floor room - too easy to get out and away.

If you do get a room with a balcony, bring a sliding door lock, or an adjustable spring-loaded curtain rod to keep the sliding door shut.

 

[brekin67]

My daughter had a bed alarm when she was younger. It would alert us when she got out of bed.

 

[ireland_nicole]

We have a door alarm that we got from Ace Hardware. It lets me know if the door moves even a tiny bit. You can request bed rails, too. Our DD has ASD, ADHD and a seizure disorder so I use a bedrail on her side of the bed. Both of our kids have SN's so DH and I split up and each sleep w/ one of our kids. I also wear a looseish nightgown and use a large safety pin to pin my nightdown to DD's pj's. That way if she gets up it pulls me enough to wake me up. (don't try this with new pj's; there's always a chance of a tear.) I also put an alarm on the bathroom door (set to chime) b/c unsupervised water and my kids are not a good mix.
Have a wonderful trip! And if you need to rent strollers for your next trip, I highly recommend orlandostrollerrentals.com Shannon is awesome and they have fabulous special needs strollers as well as "regular" ones. I wouldn't use anyone else anymore.

 

[twins2again]

thanks everyone for all your suggestions, I just have to figure out how to get them to lie down and stay there long enough to fall asleep

 

[peemagg]

Can you try swaddling them real tight or tucking the blankets in real tight?

 

[Disneylvr]

Do you have weighted blankets? We sometimes use one to get dd relaxed and ready for sleep. I know we are going to have similar issues in March as DD has been waking up at all hours and running all over the house. One of us has to get up with her to keep her safe. I can't imagine having twins and those issues. I know that Madelyn needs a defined space for sleeping and she has bedrails on both sides of her bed right now. On vacation I will be her bedmate and the other side will have a bedrail. We are about to start trying melatonin for her sleep issues.

 

[happily single]

My ds9 loves to sleep on the floor (well padded with extra blankets) between the bed and the wall of the Disney hotels. Actually he doesn't like the padding, but I insist.

Anyway, without starting a debate my ds9 also takes Clonidine at night to help him sleep. Honestly without it he would be up allllll night-I've tried not giving it to him. I give him 1 pill (smallest dose) and about 1 hour later he's relaxed enough to actually lay down. He will fall asleep shortly thereafter.

Good luck.

 

[twins2again]

thank you again! well the fact that there are two of them definetley adds to the problem. They do egg each other on like you cant believe.I think if there was one we could possibly settle her down but this is crazy.Dont worry about starting a debate with me lol You do what you have to do to survive and get rest to deal with them the next day. I didnt want to,but started them on tenex{ritalin didnt work} for the adhd issues after this last trip of running thuout the condo,turning water on ,jumping on beds and slamming closet doors with mirrors on them,in the stroller,hitting and kicking each other and unbuckling carseats while driving.

 

[BeckyScott]

It sounds like splitting them up might be your best bet, if nothing else than for your own sanity. My two tend to egg each other on (although my circumstances aren't the same as yours) so I do know what you mean about that. Also, it might be easier if you're only "responsible" for one girl and not both.

We had better luck at Disney than at home, because the boys were worn out by the end of the day.

Both boys always sleep with the tv on at home, and we did the same at the hotel. Then if they woke up they had something to do, sort of, rather than investigating our luggage. Whenever we were in our room, there was the "Top 10 Attractions at Disney" show going with that extremely perky lady. However, having the tv on, even very quietly, can mask sounds from Mommy and make Mommy not wake up when she should.

Youngest DS was on Clonodine for a while and it did nothing. Fortunately the problem has alleviated a little as he's gotten older. Oldest DS takes melatonin sometimes, but it doesn't do much good. The problem with melatonin is it has a very short half-life, and so if you can manage to fight your way through it for a half hour or so, it's not going to do anything. If a kid is full-blown hypered-up, it's not hard to fight off melatonin.

Make sure you have ID on the girls all the time, just in case. If they won't tolerate a bracelet, write on their arms with a Sharpie.

 

[of2dbeach]

I remeber when mike was younger My hubby would sleep on the hotel floor right infront of the door. he also got a big orange tie down strap and tied the door handle to the bed. he couldnt open it. we used a door alarm but mike figured out how to turn if off. i think what we finally told him was he couldnt go to disney unless he wentnto sleep because Mickey mouse wouldnt let kids in who didnt listen. Somehow it seemed to work!we always stayed on the ground floor just in case though and we survived it. now he dosent do that Tg maybe because he is 15 i dunno. he is autistic so hard to make him understand to stay out and go to sleep. he is on risperdol and that has seemed to help alot. my daughter is 12 and on vyvanse and that has helped her alot with the adhd/ocd . ritalin and clonidine i never had much luck with . i would think after a full day of Disney they will be too pooped to pop anyways. maybe wear them out in the pool or out window shopping, even a game room would help too. sorry i cant think of anything else that we have done. it is very hard especially since mike is autistic and a "runner" he always has id on him with our cell phones and he has a medical allert bracelet that says he is non verbal autistic. that has helped us out many times even at home when he has wandered. another thing you can try is make a grab bag for each morning and if they stay in bed they get a grab bag with a goody in it.. something cheap like sunglasses, autograph book, quarters for pressed pennies... will work for bribes seemed like the only way for us for a while.. hope this helps and sorry i rambled. we have 5 kids and just kept trying things!

 

[twins2again]

Thank you all! Lots of good ideas!