My son has been on clonidine for sleep for about 10 years. Our experience is this: a clonidine dose only lasts half the night. I have to give him a 2nd dose in the middle of the night (I crush the pill, mix with a liquid sweetener that we make (stevia dissolved in water) and squirt in his mouth with a small thin medicine dropper... This doesn't wake him up fully) . The extended release made my son too sleepy during the day,which caused meltdowns. We currently also give him a small dose of Ativan (anxiety drug that makes you sleepy) at the same time as the middle of the night dose. The trick is to record what time he is currently waking in the night and give it half an hour before that, so he stays asleep.

Sdharms, thank you for your input. My son used to take melatonin, However it never worked for him. Dawson's behavior has been fine with the clonidine other than his nightmares. His psychiatrist is the one who put him on Risperdal and the one who upped his dose. Dawson has severe meltdowns that last hours at the time. Since being on Risperdal he still has them but they aren't near as long.

We use clonadine and Benedryl. Ask your Dr. My son has always had sleep issues. We started with Melatonin(they make chewables) Then we started Clonadine. Due to puberty and med changes the Dr added Benedryl. They have the dye free liquid form. Some kiddos have opposite reaction to Benedryl so watch out for that. Also if this no sleep with crying is a new problem maybe Motrin to rule out a headache or toothache. Hang in there and sleep when you get a chance. Every kiddo is different so trial and error...

My son had the same problem on Clonidine 0.1 mg and we had to add Clonidine 0.1 mg ER with it. The short acting Clonidine helps him fall asleep and the extended release helps him to stay asleep.

I wish I could help you. My son was on and off a clonidine since he was a child. He is now 20 and the last time he was on clonidine it not good. He lacked impulse control and was displaying behaviors that were dangerous to himself. I don't think he meant too but I think he just didn't know what he was doing. I like melatonin "can't believe I hear myself thinking that" but it's better for sleep/autism. It is a good Ol Faithful med for kids with Autism and (at least for us}, has had little to no real negative side affects. Resperidal is a medication that is taken at night. There is a soft quick release that is useful for meltdowns/PRN. It is a psychotropic and should probably be manage by a psychiatric physician.