I Just Wanna Catch One Z.

I'm dying to know if anyone else has this problem-

We are the house of horrible sleepers. Rylan still wakes up during the night (thank god it's only once or twice now). Companion has these bizarre sleeping habits- he'll prop his head up on his hand, and sleep with his head elevated in a "I'm bored at work" sort of pose. I snore like a drunken truck driver. Then there's Jaysen.

Jaysen insists I still sleep in his bed with him. He's 5, so he should at least be able to start the night off in bed by himself, but no. He won't go to bed until I'm ready to go to bed, and if I'm out for the night, he'll wait up for me, usually falling asleep in the recliner.

Our nightly routine is bath, brush teeth, books, bed. It's awfully crammed with both of us trying to get comfy in his twin bed. I've told him that there's not enough room for both of us to sleep in his bed- he scrunches up next to the wall to give me more room. And he'll sleep like that! All squinched up against the wall, just to ensure that I'm not going to leave.

There were nights that I'd actually fall asleep in his room, but my goal has been to sneak out once he's asleep. Problem is- he wakes up during the night and notices I'm not there. Then he shuffles into my room and gets into our bed. Nights that I've stayed in his room, I've noticed that he wakes up in the middle of the night, sits up and checks if I'm still there.

Here's a conversation we had one night:

"Jaysen, you could try to sleep in your bed by yourself"

"No, I want you to lay wit me."

"None of your school friends' moms sleep with their moms"

"But I do."

(argh)

"Okay, but one day maybe you'll try to sleep in your room without me. Maybe when you're six?"

"No."

"When you're twelve?"

"No."

"Well, one day you're not going to want to sleep with me."

"Yes I do."

"What about when you're a grown-up? You're still going to want me to sleep in your bed with you?"

"Yes."

Great. My foresight: Jaysen is sixteen. His girlfriend, Suzy, will be spending the night ('cuz he snuck her in), and he'll have to ask her to move over because he wants his mom to scratch his back and "lay wit him". Ugh.

I know it's common for ASD kids to have problems sleeping, but this is really cramping my beauty-sleep. I wake up every morning aching like I've slept in a shoebox. His doctor mentioned Melatonin. I really don't want to push any more crap into his system, not to mention that I don't know how I'd get him to take it with his oral sensory issues. Plus, he doesn't have trouble falling asleep, just staying asleep. Any other suggestions are truly appreciated!