My six year old son does not go to sleep at night until 11pm most nights. We have a bedtime routine, and all. I have tried everything, but taking him to the doctor. I was hoping that someone had some advice. Thanks
Thank you all for the great advice. I have started putting my son to bed earlier and it seems to be working out ok. He is a sleep about 9 or 9:30pm, which is a great improvement. But I will keep all your ideas in mind. So, thanks so much
i agree that you should prevent him from napping during the day. But, also, I think it might be a good idea to wake him up early, and at the same time every day, even on weekends. This way, you might be able to make sure he's very tired at bedtime.
Hello K.,
I have a 13 yr old who has suffered from sleeping problems for a long time . Does your son have a tv on? Do you use night lights, music a sound maching to help. Do you stop him from playing games and stimulating things at least a couple hours before bedtime?
Other things we have tried are Melatonin, and we have been to the dr. on a couple occasions. They sent us to a sleep Dr and then put him on sleep meds but they didn't work. At the moment we are waiting for a sleep study.
But a Friend just told me about Magnesium and so far it is working for him. Both my boys take it now and so do I.
He may be worrying about something, has there been any changes lately that may have something to do with it?
Don't allow him to take naps and stick to his routine at bedtime.
My kids get a third wind at about 8pm-9pm. They run and run and torment eachother at this time. The energy they have baffles me. We try to be in a routine before this "wind" kicks in. Ideal bedtime for my 5 & 3 yr old is 8pm. The real worlds interrupts this routine a lot. Eve meetings never begin before 7pm and dinner is never always on the table BEFORE 6pm. Try upping your bedtime routine. My kids love their book reading time with Daddy or me (or both of us) lying beside them. Also, we don't have eve TV until they are in bed. Good Luck!
My four year old is the same way.
We found that we have to start his bedtime routine earlier to give him enough time/warning to get into the bedtime frame of mind.
He HAS to be in bed by 8:30pm at the latest or else he's a BEAR the next morning.
So typically bedtime routine starts right after dinner (we eat at 6pm so by 20after we are getting him ready for bed)
It takes about an hour to get teeth brushed, pj's on, bathroom sink cleaned out (bright blue toothpaste!) clothes picked up and put in the laundry. Pottied, and get a cup of water.
Then Daddy reads him 1 or 2 stories. And he is expected to stay in bed from 8pm on...of course he spends the next 30-45minutes jumping out of bed running into the living room and declaring he's not tired. But generally by 8:30-9:00 he's asleep.
We've also found that it's easier to get him to bed if his TV time is cut off around 4pm. (He gets to watch about 1.5hrs of tv a day) That extra stimulus later in the afternoon is too much.
You may want to try Melatonin if nothing seems to be working. It is available at health food stores or herbal markets. Melatonin is the sleepy hormone that our brains make. It can be mixed into a cup of juice (or you can get the pill form that just disolves in your mouth) he'll be drowsy within 20minutes and will sleep deeper through the night.
Oh and a good calcium Magnesium supplement might help too. Mag makes you relaxed enough to fall asleep and the Calcium aids in your bodies repairs.
I had the same issue with my 8yr old son as well. Finally I decided to ask him what he thought would help him sleep. And he said music. He loves music, he listens to his portable CD player all the time, so when I put him to bed, tuck him in, kiss him goodnight and then he puts on his headphones, and turns on his music and usually withing 10 to 20 minutes he is sleeping away, i take off the headphones, and he has a great nights sleep.
Hope this helps.
T.
We had this problem with my daughter, and with my sibblings and I as well when we were growing up. Takeing calcium suppliments that contain magnesium seem to help immensly. Also for my daugher I bought one of those Glade Lightshow things and put in a soothing scent like vanilla or lavender, this seems to help a lot. The lights sooth her mind while the scent helps her sleep.
I am not exactly sure cuz sometimes my 6 yr old won't get to sleep until 10, or well after 11 when her half-sister visits. At first when she'd stay the night she was getting ready by 9:30 but now I am lucky if she is sleepy at 10:30. Any advice on that?
