Anyone familiar with given 6 yr old Clonidine to sleep?

6 Nov 2009

It clearly states every where not to give this med to anyone under 12 years old. Plus no where does it state that is what this med is for, I don't understand why your doctor would prescribe that for you child. I would definetly get a second opinion on that one. I would even try using benadryl at night time. Have you ever done that? At least until you find something. I work for a physchiatrist and he prescribes benadryl alot for his patients to sleep. I wish you good luck, and I would stay away from that med. Michele

7 Nov 2009

Tammydonny,
I can see where your doctor was going with this med, but I would be really hestitant to use it on a six year old. Just out of curiousity, how much Concerta is your son on? I would've thought that the doctor would just decrease his dosage of that. If that made his ADHD worse, I would think he might try a lower dosage of Concerta ER (extended release). Just a thought. Anyway, good luck with the sleep problem. Since benadryl didn't work well, maybe he could try a low dose of Vistaril. It's an antihystamine too, maybe it would work.

27 Nov 2009

17 Feb 2010

my son is 6 years old and is on concerta and he has trouble going to sleep, so the Dr told me to give him Melatonin it worked for a little while now it doesn't do anything we get him to bed between 11-2 so I know how you feel and what your going through.

17 Apr 2010

I have 6 year old twins, both on Vyvanse(30mg) for their ADHD and now taking Clonidine (1/2 tablet 0.1mg) to help alleviate tics. Though it was not prescribed for a sleep disorder, one twin does take a second dose at night; I have to give it to him about 3 hours before bedtime, otherwise he gets sleepy during dinner and if we keep him up (to take his bath, etc) he seems to catch a 2d wind and then we have a tough time getting him down. I wouldn't be afraid to try the med, but be willing to tinker with when you give your son the dose.

14 Jun 2010

My eight year old granddaughter has taken Clonidine for 2 & 1/2 yr. She takes .1 mg. Katie goes to sleep within 30 min. of taking the med. I notice she walks in her sleep as well as seems to have more dreams. So far we do not notice any really bad side effects. At least she rests well for school. She is also on Risperadal. Her doc recently increased her to .2mg. of clonidine But it made her sleep too deeply & we cut it back, which still lets her rest. I hope all goes well for your child. i call my phamacist with med questions often.

31 Dec 2010

I have a 10 year old son with ADHD and taking 27mg of concerta. About an hour before bedtime we give him "Sleepytime Tea" spiked with 3mg of melatonin, the tea is chamomile and spearmint and we sweeten it a little with honey; there is another tea called "Sleepytime Extra" that has Valerian root in it, which we haven't tried yet. This has worked sooooooo well for us, no more bedtime nightmare! The maximum "safe" dose of melatonin for kids is 10mg, but we have only needed three. Find the tea in the tea section and the melatonin in the vitamin section of your local grocery store. Also, when I put my boy to bed, I rub his back to help him relax into sleep. Takes like 10 minutes but he's out like a light.

30 Mar 2011

I am very familiar with this. My daughter, 6yrs old, has severe ADHD and was on Focalin XR with Clonidine. She is now on Concerta with clonidine and this really helps. I too had concerns and was asking my sisters who are nurses about this, since it is a blood pressure medicine, and they disagreed at first. After awhile it became a must that i try something and now i wouldn't change it for the world and they agree. She sleeps now and I am very pleased with this medicine. Again to each its on but it really helped her. Benadryl did nothing and it is not intended for extended use. Hope this helps

17 Jan 2012

My 16 year old and 7 year old boys both have ADHD. They both take clonidine at bedtime. My 16 y/o takes .3 mg and my 7y/o takes .1mg. We tried the melatonin an it gave them severe night terrors. The clonidine works wonderful. My 7 y/o has a rare growth order as well and we have to treat the ADHD very carefully and lightly. Before the clonidine it took atleast 2 hours to get him to sleep. My older boy would be up all night some nights. Lack of sleep is very detrimental to learning and behaving at school.