No shunt lasts forever, learn the signs/symptoms of failure (outrght failures are usually easy to see but there can also be intermittent failure or failure without obvious signs). Make sure your son has regular checkups with a surgeon. After surgery there is an increased chance of infection for some period, learn the infection signs/symptoms to look for. I don't know about how older kids and adults adjust, my child was shunted under a year but she is slow to adjust fully to new shunt systems and changes in settings. Minor issues are the valve works but the setting is not right (too high/low) so it can result in over/under draining, e.g. if he's up a lot then problems but lying down helps, or lying down too long has problems and sitting up helps. It may take a while to figure out what is going on or it may just be an adjustment issue that takes a while. I'd see if changes to the sleeping environment help (different/neck pillows, etc) , some tylenol or ibuprofen at night could help some, etc... Consider calling the surgeon's office and ask what has helped their other patients with this issue. Note that some surgeons are not very helpful, seems like adult surgeons are less friendly to these followup issues unless they are very familiar with shunts. Pediatric surgeons should be very familiar with shunt issues.