My son has to have a sleep deprived eeg test done, how exactly is this done?

My son is a 5 year old with autism, he can't talk at all and he is extremly hyperactive. He has an eeg test scheduled for Thursday. The only thing they've told me was that I need to make sure he doesn't have anything with caffeine for at least 12 hours prior to the test. I should have him in bed at 10-11 o'clock that night and I should wake him up between 3 and 4 in the morning and keep him up til he's test at 8:30. I just want to know what to expect, like how they sedate him and well how the test is done in general. Thanks.

Sounds easy enough Donna but there is no way my son will sit still long enough to let them do that so I'm pretty sure they will have to sedate him. We can't even get him to sit still for 5 minutes.

My 12 year old daughter had this done last year. I let her sleep until 3am. She was okay with that. It was the lack of food that she disliked. (that was for another test the same day) When we went into the exam room, the doctor had her sit on the bed. He then stuck many, many wires on her body. This was mostly to her head. He then had her lay on the bed as still and quietly as she could be. I was in the room the whole time. It lasted about 45 minutes. The room was completely dark and quiet. She laid there for the entire time without even falling asleep. I, however, did go to sleep! Anyways, it is the most calm and easy hospital test you could ever have done on your child. She had several tests all that week, believe me, this is the one you would prefer. No pain involved whatsoever!!--Donna from Texas

Ask the doctor.