4 Yr. Old Wont Sleep

Hi K.,

Your daughter would benefit greatly from adaptogens! My husband and I ordered an incredible book off Amazon titled Adaptogens, Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by Winston and Maimes. It is fascinating. From the book "There is a category of herbs called adaptogens that help the human body adapt to stress, support normal metabolic processes, and restore balance. They increase the body's resistance to physical, biological, emotional, and environmental stressors and promote normal physiologic function".

This section pinpoints the root cause of your daughter's problem and offers a solution: "Many people suffer from insomnia and related sleep problems. Stress can disrupt the regular circadian (time-related) secretion of cortisol and can be a major cause of sleep problems. Adaptogens regulate the production of cortisol, reducing stress. A relaxed, less stressful body allows for better and more rejuvenating sleep".

The 10 most potent adaptogens on the earth, with the highest therapeutic and healing properties available, are now delievered in a fast acting oral spray, called Tunguska Mist. Go to www.VitalHealth.TunguskaMist.com to learn more.

I highly recommend you try Tunguska Mist PM for your daughter. PM will help her relax and fall asleep naturally.
PM is NATURAL and non-habit-forming.

Instead of commercial drugs that can leave you drowsy and fogged in, use PM (a natural sleep aid) for a sound, peaceful night's sleep. The 10 beneficial adaptogens in PM also assist in reducing stress and improve your immune system while you sleep. They taste great and with the intra-oral spray you get over 90% of the nutrients absorbed immediately, which go to work within seconds. A serving is 6 sprays; for children under 100 pounds, 1/2 a serving is recommended. So I would suggest 1 or 2 sprays (inside the cheeks) and see how she does, then go from there.

Please let me know if you have any questions. My husband and I have been using adaptogens for a long time. We are passionate about helping people reduce the damaging effects of stress on the body and restoring balance naturally, without medications. Good luck and God Bless:)

Best regards,
N.

You might try having her bed time a little later, and at 8 give her a nice soothing bath, then a bed time story, and maybe childrens bedtime music tape after the story, and leave a lamp on instead of night lights, so there isn't a shadow, and leave the door open, so she won't be scared of being closed in. Then slip in later and turn off the lamp. You could leave a night light on in the hall or in her room so if she did wake up, it wouldn't be so dark, but trying this a few nights in a row, may get her in the habit.

Mainly I'm just excite that I'm not the only one. My daughter will be 4 in about two weeks and won't stay in bed to save her life. We have a bedtime routine - books, songs, snuggles, i "hire" one of her baby dolls to protect her at night, whispering in his/her ear and then giving her over to Z (she loves this). As far as lights go she's got a day bed with rope lights wound all over the thing like a vine - it's brighter with them on then with the overhead light. She's also got a moving 'fish' aquarium that has bright lights - without them she won't lay down. Night lights weren't an option, she screamed that she was scared. She'll get out of bed and come into my room somewhere around 3-10 times at night. I'm 9 months pregnant and anxious to get what sleep my body will allow! When she wakes me I might have enough energy to walk her to her room at first, but it doesn't take long to exhaust myself and finally just give in and let her sleep with me - which won't be an option when this baby is born. I'll be keeping up with this thread and hope for a miracle answer. Zoey also has books that even she can read, and a flashlight. She knows that if she can't sleep she can read them - in fact, she generally reads them after we do our bedtime routine and I leave the room. We've also got disney classical bedtime music and celine dion's lullaby cd - i've tried everything I can - all I can picture now is the baby being born and Zoey waking me up every time the baby finally lets me fall asleep
AHHH!
T.

I assume since you didn't mention it that she no longer naps??? Maybe if she does, it is indeed time to give that up so she'll sleep more at night. If she has already given naps up, then I really don't know what to tell you. Sorry! I sure do feel for you though!

We had a child like that and it helped when we added some "white noise" to the room.

My 4 year old wakes up and comes to our room about 3 nights a week. He gets in bed with us, usually around 2 or 3 in the morning and will lay there for about 30 minutes. We only have a queen size bed and after half an hour he is pretty uncomfortable, so he will ask one of us to tuck him in his bed. Usually we don't see him again, but the next morning he won't be up before 8 since he lost so much sleep. I don't know why he does this, but we don't say anything. I know he will grow out of it eventually. I really don't have any advice, except to say that I wouldn't punish or get upset about it. I just wanted to say your not alone. Good luck to you and your family.

I don't have a solution, but I know my 3 yr old (4 in a month) son gets up 2-3 times a night. He usually doesn't bother us, in fact, I haven't noticed it except that he turns the little hallway light outside his door on. By the time I notice it's on, he's usually back asleep, and I just turn it off. He does occasionally come it to get a snuggle from mommy or daddy, but we can usually snuggle him in our bed for a few minutes and send him back to bed.

One thing we do, and that I got from my mom when we got married, is my husband sleeps on the side of the bed by the door. My dad always slept on that side and I never knew why till I got married. With the dad sleeping by the door, the kids will see him when they come in at night and generally ask for him/wake him up instead of mom. This is really helpful when dealing with children and new borns (or pregnant moms) because they can get what sleep they can and deal with new babies waking up all night long. Of course, hubby has to be willing to share in this responsibility or he'll just send the child to mom, but it works for us. When the kids are all at a point where they mostly sleep through the night, I usually get up with them (although he still sleeps by the door) so that he can get rested for work. When I'm too tired, and when I'm pregnant or nursing during the night, my husband deals with the bigger kids. Dads also tend to be a little firmer (and if your a SAHM more willingly obeyed) so having dad step in and help could help in getting her to stay asleep. Good luck!

Hi...I wouldn't recommend giving her herbs because actually herbal supplements are much more dangerous than prescription and OTC medicines because they are not regulated by the FDA and some have proven serious side effects including death.

Secondly, if she is not napping in day and still not sleeping at night, that is a significant issue...is she afraid of the dark because of dreams or did something scary happen to her in the dark? I would recommend talking to your pediatrician but also taking her to a child therapist (who may even recommend evaluation by a child psychiatrist)...at this rate, she is not getting enough sleep to function, grow, and learn while awake!
good luck!

K., I'm not an expert, but what often helps our family with sleeplessness is a natural remedy called Relaxing Sleep Tonic (Herb Pharm). You can get it at Whole Foods, Sprouts or Healthy Approach. It was recommended to me and I love it. Mix it in milk or juice and drink before bed. 4 drops for under 4 years old, 5 drops for 4 thru 7, and 8 drops for adults. Non-addictive and helps "re-train" your child's body to sleep 11 to 12 hours. Best of luck!

Hang in there K.- Just be consistent- Dont allow the 3am wake up and stay up. Tell her that she needs to get back in bed with a book . Reading ( looking at pictures)will probably conk her out(or stimulate her to be up more- lol) but worse case scenario- she'll be doing something productive - even if it is just looking at the pictures and it will get her in her bed. If she is more comfortable with the lights on- no problem- leave them all on for that matter! Unless she is in the room with her 16 months old sister of course. Screaming and carrying on - well, its never too late or too early in the day for time outs- It may wear you down a few nights but once she sees that shes in time out and you are in bed- it may notmake the wake ups seems fun any longer.
Nip it in the bud now- Hey - Pay now....or Pay later- lol
When she gets older gets- Queen Bees and Wanna Bess- great bibel for moms of girls

D.

my daughter is 3 and I have the same problem but what helps us is what we relax time it seems to be working. We about hour before bed take baths and then turn down all the lights in the house and either watch a calm show or sit and read, but it gets her calmed down enough she seems to go to sleep and sleeps better. mom36

Have you ever gotten her evaluated? You might want to consider this. Has she had any major changes in childcare, at home, playing with friends,etc....? Has she been sick lately? If there has been major changes, that might be what is causing it or part of the problem.

Does she have an animal or dolly to sleep with? What about turning on a closet light instead of doing the nightlights. We had a child that didn't want the nightlights on, he wanted the big lights on. We settled for the closet light being on.

Have you read any books going to bed, sleeping, the dark/nighttime? That might help, so check them out at your library and read them to her.

A good checkup by the Dr. would be good also to make sure nothing else is going on. Why don't you let her look at books quietly if she can be quiet and can't sleep? Does she have her own room? If she is with the baby, then that might not work. If she has her own room, then that might work.

Is she in a preschool or daycare? We use a sound machine for our child and it helps him go to sleep. You might try a sound machine, maybe that might help.

We had lots of issues with our 4 year old regarding sleep. Main thing-- is she still getting a nap? If so, stop the nap. Make her run laps and get as physically exhausted as she can. I think they are getting to be bigger kids at this age and want more control too. So, two problems. The main thing is she probably is trying to get control.

Try a few things. Bath immediately before bed. Maybe monster spray, if that is a concern (something nice and good smelling). Some kind of very specific ritual, whether it be bath, bed, story, sleep. Or prayers. Or something that you are consistent on. I'd also say, ignore her. If she gets up and goes to the bathroom, let her. If she stays in her room and plays quietly, let her. She is exerting her independence and if she doesn't get a confrontation about it, she might be easier to deal with.

Other than that, I'd say she'll be okay. If she needs more sleep, she'll take it.

Good luck. Ours lasted a long time and we ended up at a child psychologist. But, in the end, she sleeps fine now.

L.