6Yr Old Not Sleeping Thur the Night

I agree that she may to over tired. I would recommend trying to make bedtime earlier.

Have you ever heard of Hyland's? It's an all natural brand. They make teething tablets, etc. You can get them at Walgreens, Kroger, Walmart, etc. They have a product called Calms Forte 4Kids. Here's some info on it:

Watching your restless child toss like a tiny boat in rough seas, you’d give anything to bring on the calm. These sleepless nights are heartbreaking as much as they are exhausting – for both of you. But even the youngest human body has the ability to re-establish balance and health – including rejuvenating sleep patterns. The trick to achieving this balance lies in your ability to provide safe relief that targets the causes that keep kids up at night. Hyland’s created Calms Forté 4 Kids™ for just this reason.

This medicine is designed to safely and effectively counteract mental and physical restlessness in children. Studies show that 69% of our children under 10 years of age are prone to some kind of sleep problem. This doesn’t mean that your child needs to suffer. Calms Forté 4 Kids™ addresses the causes that inhibit a child from sleeping well. Your child won’t wake up groggy like he or she might, when given over-the-counter drugs containing diphenhydramine (such as Benadryl®). This is significant for school-age children who need to be alert first thing in the morning.

Like all of our homeopathic medicines, Calms Forté 4 Kids™ is a formulation of all natural, safe and effective ingredients. A calmative solution to restlessness, this medicine comes in easy-to-administer tablets that dissolve almost instantly in the mouth. Calms Forté 4 Kids™ works without side effects and won't interact with other medications.

125 quick-dissolving tablets, easy to administer

Formulated for children ages 2 and up

No side effects

Can be used with other medications without contraindications or drug interactions

Aspirin- and acetaminophen-free

Addresses other causes that can inhibit children from sleeping well, including night terrors, growing pains, and sleeplessness from vacation travel.

Useful for irritability and wakefulness

You should check them out on the web. (www.hylands.com) I'm sure it's just a phase of some sort. But, maybe this could help you both get through it. ;0) Good luck!

I would adjust the time she goes to bed. My stepson was doing that everytime he stayed with us, and we adjusted the bedtime to an hour earlier and now he NEVER gets up at night. He used to go to bed at 9, and now it's 8. If kids don't get enough sleep they have a harder time sleeping. So I would try changing her bedtime to earlier. Also when she gets up at night, just walk her back to bed, and tell her it's bedtime, and walk out of the room. And then after that, don't talk to her, just keep putting her back in bed. She will eventually stop coming out, but I think the earlier bedtime would help out a ton for her.

H.,

When our son started doing the same thing we put a sleeping bag and pad on my side of the bed for him to sleep in. This way he could be near us, but not disturb our sleep. We did set firm rules about these sleeping arrangements. He could only come in once or twice a week and eventually he had to sleep in his own bed again. When the sleeping bag became a crutch we knew it was time to move him back to his own room. He was very good about the whole situation because we laid out the rules ahead of time and he knew what was going to happen, then we follow through.

I really think it was a phase. He was having a difficult time in school and needed to be close to us. His imagination was also progressing and some of his dreams were scaring him at night, but he didn't have the language skills to express his fears.

Good luck with your daughter.

C..

There's no reason for her to be receiving rewards for getting up when she's supposed to be sleeping at age 6. When you're telling her how much she's loved and being nurturing at those times, you're rewarding her behavior, so of course it's going to continue. My daughter is 7, and has always had bad sleeping habits. To keep them in check though, she knows that if she gets up and wakes me up or gets up after she's been put in bed and comes out to the livingroom, she owes me 15 minutes the following night. So, if she CHOOSES to get up, each time she does is 15 minutes. She sleeps through the night pretty much every night now because of my rule, but about once every few months she'll go through a couple of nights where I have to enforce this rule, and once she experiences going to bed early because of it, she stops getting up. I do make exceptions for her, but I don't express these to her. If I were to tell her that if she has a bad dream or feels sick then she's allowed to come get me, then she'd end up getting up and saying she had a bellyache or bad dream each time. I can tell if she's had a bad dream, so it works for us. If you don't establish consequences for rules, kids won't follow them, and this one's important because it's her well being.

I had a thought that she may need to go to bed a little earlier. Overly tired kids sleep worse, as I'm sure you know. Otherwise, no new ideas than what you're already doing.
Do you think something may be going on at school? If so, you could always email/talk to her teacher for some insight.
Good luck.

One response stated your daughter's behavior is being rewarded. I would have to agree. I've worked with children with difficult behaviors in schools and found that children do not continue a behavior unless they are getting something from it. If you want to take a positive approach, you could try rewarding her for staying in bed. Get a sticker chart and reward her for say every 15 minutes or so she can stay in bed. If she only lasts 5 minutes in bed at a time before up, then start with that. Start with something that she can suceed at. When she gets three stickers, maybe she can get a small reward the next day like an extra book at bed, a little more time in the tub whatever is rewarding to her. It doesn't need to be big. As she stays longer in bed, extend the time required to earn a sticker and require more stickers earned until you eventually phase out the rewards. It may take some time but I have found rewarding positive behavior seems to work and may not make bedtime a negative thing for her. I hope this helps.