Early Morning Riser

Mallory is an early morning riser.  Some mornings as early as 3 a.m. 

Most mornings by 5 a.m.  Very rarely past 6:30 a.m.

We have read, researched, and tried a lot.  We've got it managed to where Mallory gets the most sleep, however getting her to sleep later in the morning is nearly impossible.

Now before you start to wonder......Mallory has a reverse Melatonin cycle. 

What puts us to sleep and keeps us there is the opposite for Mallory.

There are a lot of factors that effect her sleep and we attempt to anticipate them all.

She goes to bed at night with her room clean and orderly.  When she awakens, it's like a tornado went through her room.  She gets into everything that she possibly can.  We keep her room full of the minimum requirements.  It's a no fuss room.

She has just a few toys in her room and manages to get them out.  She usually pulls all the clothing out of her dresser.  Her armoirre stays locked at night (when i remember). If it's not locked, she will take all the clothes off her hangers.

The ideal thing would be to get up when Mallory does.  We've tried that.  It works for a little while, but wears on you.  Our solution, is to contain her in her room. 

I'm not a fan of closing the door completely.  I want to be able to peek in on her and be able to hear her. 
We had a friend cut her door in half.  We then placed a lock on the door.  This keeps her in her room until it's time to be up for the day.  She does have a TV and books that keep her busy.

Most mornings are manageable with this system. 

For more information on sleep in children with Smith Magenis Syndrome, check out http://www.prisms.org/