Sleeping, mostly dry

There's been so much going on and it's been a while since I've written. I'm going to try to catch up one day at a time, so here it goes.

In late December, Jack decided he was ready to stop wearing overnight diapers. We followed his cue, gave away the last 1/2 bag of diapers, and bought some waterproof mattress pads. At first we tried waking him up around 11 for a pee, and some nights that worked, while others he was unable to wake up enough to do it. We stopped trying that, since even when he was able to pee in the potty at 11 he sometimes peed in his bed later on. Some nights he peed in bed twice, so we came up with a stackable system, with a mattress pad, a sheet, another mattress pad, and another sheet -- when he pees we come in and change him and peel one layer off the bed. After a month and a half he's making good progress, keeping dry overnight more than 1/2 the time while becoming more responsible for his toileting during daytime hours.

At the same time, Jack's sleep has improved. Kids in the autistic spectrum are notoriously poor sleepers and have trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep, and getting enough sleep. We see a huge difference when Jack gets a good night sleep: better concentration, cooperation, and energy, with less whining and tantrums. Lately he's been averaging more than 10 hours a night and sometimes slumbering up to 12 hours. His sleep makes a huge difference for all of us and we hope this is a permanent improvement.