Tips to improve concentration please

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Y
Posts: 463
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:49 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by Y »

Once you've tried all the usual suggestions about sleep, it may be time to see your GP. If the sleep problems persist, you can get a referral to a sleep clinic, but if my experience is anything to go by, from first asking for the referral to finally getting it can take a year - you have to go through a pediatrician first. Google Delayed sleep phase disorder - that might be enlightening. 'He's shattered, but can't sleep' is very telling.
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by menagerie »

Y that's great advice. Thank you for the reminder. He had terrible problems sleeping as a baby, due to other illnesses, and we asked for a referral then but were told there was no sleep clinic in our area. We've moved now and Surrey generally seems to have much better facilities than London did, oddly enough, so that's definitely worth a shot.
FluffyD
Posts: 347
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 5:22 pm
Location: West Yorks

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by FluffyD »

It is not connected to sleep but when my DS his concentration was terrible :evil: We had him on fish oils for a few months and it made a noticable improvement to his concentration.
Now that I am typing it I am considering getting them again for both DC's :lol:
Vic x
Y
Posts: 463
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:49 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by Y »

menagerie wrote: we asked for a referral then but were told there was no sleep clinic in our area.
Don't be fobbed off. If there isn't a clinic in your area, ask to go out of area. I don't think that at 40 miles our nearest clinic is particularly local.
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by menagerie »

Fluffy we tried fish oils but both DC refused to try them.
Now that I've focused on his sleep patterns (thanks Y for noting this) I'm convinced they are the root of his problem. last night he had lights out at 8.45, following a soothing nightly routine of bath, story, prayers. He finally dropped off at 11.30, after getting up in agitation several times, exhausted but unable to sleep. I had to give him a massage before he could relax and drop off. Woke at 5.45and came into our bed. Tossed and turned for an hour. Went back to his own bed when DH got up and napped for 20 mins, then got up just after 7am. That's six and a quarter hours unbroken sleep plus 20 minutes nap. He's nine. :shock:
Should I approach the GP?
mangomum
Posts: 137
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:33 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by mangomum »

Hi menagarie
My DS has been on fish oils since about 2 yrs old. I've notice that when I've run out and he's gone without for a few weeks it affects his concentration and behaviour so now I always keeps a few mOnths supply and when stocks are running out I quickly replenish. There are mAny different brands and flavours available so please have another look on the supplements counter at the supermarket and chemist and experiment.
Also please give the relaxation and hypnosis a try. Lastly how does he feel about lack of sleep? Does he think it's a problem?you know you can only help him to overcome this if he believes it's an issue?
Sorry one more thing - monitor his diet. Sugar,caffeine are the usual suspects but sometimes there are hidden triggers such as colours. I once met a child who couldn't have anything red (fruits or veg or anything else!) made her hyper!
Some GPs arenot very helpful so you might want to find a better GP!

Lots of luck - all you can do is try various things. please give anything you try a few weeks to see if helps.

Sorry for the many errors in the post but am on the phone keyboard!
MangoMum
flicka
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 6:53 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by flicka »

My DS was a truly terrible "going to sleeper". Once he was asleep, he was fine, but he could NEVER go to sleep like my other kids did. We despaired. Because he would get up and sneak about and do naughty things. Stairgate - climbed over it. Nothing worked. I used to sit outside his room telling him to get back into bed every couple of minutes for HOURS. It took us ages to realise that he really just didn't need the sleep.
We would get him up ridiculously early, thinking that it would surely tire him enough to have him go to sleep more easily at night. No, didn't work. We took him on long bike rides/walks as he got older, but all we ended up with was a fit child and exhausted parents.
Now eleven, he still isn't asleep until gone 11pm, frequently much later, and we have finally realised that there isn't much we can do about it.
We wondered if he had ADHD, but no, only traits, mostly the HD as his concentration was never too poor.
We tried dietary changes, fish oils etc, but nothing worked. We are really really careful to look what has gone into his food in the way of additives, but he is still sometimes climbing the walls with energy, when we are nodding off.
With age, he has become more easy to reason with, and he will amuse himself fairly safely when sent up to bed, rather than getting up to no good.
I think he is just one of those people that needs very little sleep. He stopped his daytime sleep at less than 18months (my mum says I stopped mine at 12 months) and I foolishly thought that would help him get off in the evening, but it didn't.
At least your DS is actually tired. Mine never was and still isn't. I think he runs on long life batteries.
Good luck.
Y
Posts: 463
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:49 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by Y »

Hi Menagerie

Sorry, I didn't see your last message until Flicka's post bumped it up the thread. Hope you may be getting on better with your DS, but if he's still not getting enough sleep, go to your GP. Keep a diary of what you try, and what happens to his sleep pattern, and if things are no better after you've tried what your GP suggests, then get a referral. If your DS is tired, he's not getting enough sleep, and if he's not getting enough sleep, he's probably going to end up feeling ill, as well as being unable to concentrate. The waiting lists for a sleep clinic are nightmarish, and if you can possibly afford it (or have insurance) you may want to try the private route. We tried everything - including hypnotherapy (twice) - which was a complete waste of time for my cynical DC - before finally asking for a referral. Unfortunately, that meant going through a paediatrician, and with the addition of one or two complicating factors - we got referred to CAMHS - it is now *** 19 months *** since I first asked for a referral, and I'm still waiting to attend the follow up sleep clinic appointment with my DC ** four ** months after the tests. It may be that this produces no benefit, but at least if the sleep clinic can't do anything, I know I've exhausted all possibilities!

Best of luck

Y
betruetoyourself
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:30 am

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by betruetoyourself »

Get him to recite all the timetables to himself while he is lying down. This works for my DD.
Thingsbehindthesun
Posts: 463
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:25 pm

Re: Tips to improve concentration please

Post by Thingsbehindthesun »

Someone else may have mentioned it before, but have you tried increasing the amount of exercise he is currently taking during the day? This is follwing yesterday where my youngest spent an hour something playing rugby. She was exhusted and fell asleep before 7.30.
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