Warning: This Post May Put You To Sleep….

The only thing scarier is having to sedate your child. Especially when your child has underlying medical conditions that make anesthesia more risky. 

In order to perform an EEG on our daughter last week she needed to be asleep. Not fully knocked out, but soundly asleep. She also needed to be sufficiently sleep deprived to elicit the disorganized brain chaos necessary to reveal any abnormal brain waves lurking about.

Our neurologist suggested using Chloral Hydrate the morning of the procedure to sedate. We’ve used this drug before without any problems. However, after doing some research into Long QT Syndrome (a potentially serious heart condition our daughter is being monitored for) I stumbled upon several alarming studies…

Notice the second drug on the list of drugs to avoid if you are prone to Long QT Syndrome? Ya. Even though we were assured that CH had been used without incident within their practice for years and we shouldn’t worry, I worried. Why expose our daughter to such an unnecessary risk; one with a potentially devastating outcome?

We canceled the drug and chose the extreme sleep deprivation route. We were advised by the doctor to wake Avery up (and keep her awake) six hours prior to her normal waking time.

The kid gets up at 6am. So, midnight then. Fabulous.

The day before the EEG a nurse from the hospital called to confirm. I told her about our exciting evening ahead…partying through the night. She said we were nuts and that it would be torture for both of us. “Why not keep her up as late a possible and wake her early?“she suggested.

Of course. This is exactly what we did and it worked brilliantly.

My husband and I entertained Avery with movies and treats and managed to keep up awake until 11pm (which is pretty impressive since she is usually passed out, fast asleep by 6:45pm). My husband, a ridiculous early bird by nature, woke her at 4am.

I’d say she was sufficiently sleep deprived, wouldn’t you?

This is our little night owl waiting for her EEG…pale as chalk and beyond tired. She actually crawled onto a shelf in the waiting room, curled into a ball and tried to go to sleep. 


Once on the table in the procedure room, she patted the pillow, snuggled down under the covers and said, “Ahhh, so nice. Goodnight,” and was asleep and snoring within 60 seconds. Like a boss.

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