On bedtime battles: 5-HTP and Magnesium Sulfate Cream

From the age of 6 months to about 2 years old Liam was a dream sleeper. He would go to bed, awake- fall asleep on his own and sleep the whole night. 730pm to 630/730 am. 

Then right around 2 and a half, this all changed. He began refusing to go to bed. Kicking at his door, turning his lights on and off, the list goes on. We were full on BedTime Battle Mode. It was tough. Tough Tough Tough. This was pre GFCF diet, pre supplimets, pre opening our eyes. 

When i began him on Kirkman Labs Super Nu Thera, it was like a switch went off. No more battles.

But tehn about a month or so ago, the battles began again. I link this directly with the week i (mistakingly) allowed soy in his diet.

It took about 2 weeks for those negative behaviors to recede from that "week of soy", and although the battles werent as intense, it was still hard to get him to go to sleep unless i would lay next to him for 20-30 minutes in which case he be out like a light shortly there after.  But who wants to continue THAT habit? Love my boy but, not me. lol

So- after a few months of this mow, i contacted Dr Jill and asked her about melatonin, which i have read about over and over in my research. 

She advised us to try 5-HTP, along with a magnesium sulfate cream (also known as Epsom salts)

We are doing a cream versus Epsom Salt Baths because Liam tends to drink the bathwater at times and that would be no bueno.

5-HTP breaks down into serotonin which further breaks down into melatonin which the body makes to initiate sleep.

We have started the 5-HTP with 50mg at night. After 1 week, she said we may increase the total dose by 50mg to a max of 200mg/night. The 5-HTP needs 30-60 minutes to help. And since the 5-HTP will take a bit longer to get to a good dose, we started with the Magnesium cream asap as well. We can apply it 4x/day as needed. She said some days he may need more than others.

Magnesium has a calming effect.

We are on day two of the 5-HTP at 50 ml and i can already tell he will need a higher dose. BUT, since taking it bedtime has been easier the past few says. He lays in our bed to watch a show or two and then we put him in his bedroom. He whines and fights it for a few minutes but then goes and lays down on his own and has fallen asleep on his own both nights. 

So far i am a believer. 

I ordered the trial sizes of the mag sulfate cream and dang the are not playing around with teh trial size! It is a tiny little bit. I have only used it twice a day for the past two days and will be ordering a larger tube tomorrow. Its only like 18 bucks so i am willing to chance it to see the results. 

I purchase all of my supplements form the kirkmans labs website and OurKidsASD website which ships mostly everything for free.

And so, we continue to soar!