Sleep for Almost 6 Year Old Without Drugs

Camomile tea works great and my family loves it. I also use ginger ale in the tea instead of water. It takes great and is very relaxing.

My son is 4 and weighs more than 45 lbs.... I give him 1/3 mg melatonin mixed in 1 cup of milk to help him get to sleep when needed. This is in tandem with a regular bedtime routine.

melatonin -
all natural
non narcotic
non addictive
My son has taken it on and off since he was very young with never any problems.

Also, a good calming night time routine - no TV, sugar, or stimulants at least an hour before bedtime, a soothing bath with lavender, low lights, soft music.

Good Luck

maybe not medication what about natural medicine?...Like melatonin, chamomile, valerian root....or calms forte for kids?

ETA...ive tried them all on my kids and I. Melatonin is my favorite, its a very clean sleepiness and no dependency. I take 3 mg, i give my oldest daughter(8 years old) 1 1/2 mg (i just bite the little 3 mg pill in half) id start your child on 1 mg

The notion of drinking warm milk before bed does work (for some) because of the amino acids in milk. These amino acids are synthesized by the body into serotonin and melatonin which promote sleep. You could also consider suppliments, as long as you don't consider suppliments to be 'drugs'. L-Tryptophan, which is basically the amino acid in milk, can be bought in pill form. It is excellent to induce sleep. Another option is melatonin. 3 mg will put most adults out. People use it for jet lag. It doesn't cause groginess. It just resets your circadian rhythyms. Melatonin is awesome, my whole extended family uses it.

Wearing her out with lots of activity during the day.
A calm dinner time and evening.
No TV, No video games.
A quiet home, a calm bath, and a nice dark and cool room as we read to her.. Speaking slower and slower towards the end of the book or end of a chapter..

Our daughter also liked to listen to quiet music or a book on tape played quietly as she fell asleep..

It is the calming the mind and helping them release their thoughts..
My mother would start by saying, "close your eyes and begin relaxing your feet", and she would lightly touch the feet. Then "now your ankles, relax them" and she would lightly touch.. :Now relax your calves" touch.. etc all the way up to her head..

After only a few times, the grandchildren would make it to about the knees and then be conked out.. Hee, hee..

Another vote for melatonin. Our son's doctor recommended it due to his sleep issues. He has ADHD and can't fall asleep on his own due to his excessive energy. We didn't want to add any more prescription medications to the mix, so she said to give melatonin a try. He takes 1 mg a night and it works brilliantly. He's taken it since he was four and he's eight now.

Our kids fall right to sleep most nights and I think it is because we have had the same routine pretty much since birth.

Try a bath before bed then she can read and look at books for 15 minutes. Then lights out and you sit on the edge of her bed and rub her back and talk about the day all while talking very quietly and soothing. Then you read to her for abit.

We read scripture and pray then we go into each of the 3 kids individually and say goodnight,give kisses and rub backs. All of this is with the lights out and them in their beds. Then I read for about 10 minutes from our current novel we are plugging through. That way after I read the novel for a bit I then say good night and walk away. Most often our 5 year old is fast asleep by the time I finish reading the novel.

Good luck. I personally think drugs should be the last resort after all other relaxation methods have been exhausted.

I ditto the Melatonin - you want to get it from a compounding pharmacist if possible, to get the right dosage (which will change as she ages and gains weight). Its been a lifesaver to a great-nephew of mine who's had problems for 9yrs and for my own son who had a kazillion sleep issues. Its easily mixed in liquids.

Another trick is to have her lay down in bed, flex her feet for a count of 10, then relax for a count of 10 - repeat 3 times. Then maybe some cleansing breaths, deep inhale, slow exhale. Good luck!

I ditto Laurie A.
I do similar things with my daughter.

Also, my daughter likes Chamomile tea at night.

Also, less sleep creates more over-tiredness... then being over-tired, actually makes it even harder, to fall asleep well at night and to stay asleep.

Or, there are things like "Hyland's Calms Forte-for kids" which is homeopathic and found in natural food stores. Like Whole Foods.
It is to help a child, calm. It is not a drug nor does it create drowsiness. Just relaxation. It is not habit forming.

The brand "Animal Parade" makes something called "Warm Milk" which is a chewable for kids. Animal Parade makes all natural vitamins/supplements for kids.

Then, one thing that gets my daughter to fall asleep, is to rub her feet or massage it.
And within 5 minutes, she is asleep.
I do this, when she is especially active, mentally, and talkative, and cannot sleep.

Different things work for different kids/adults.

I've gotten my ADHD son to sleep very easily MOST of the time through the "sheer exhaustion" gamut (hey, we homeschool, we can snowboard for 10 hours, or go on a 15 mile hike, or swim for -gee- all freakin day long). Well... he had some health problems come up that nixed our balls to walls physical activity. And hormones. Hormones are FUN (not). Wheee... So we've had to do things totally different. Oy. I had *completely* forgotten the learning process that was!

We ALL become experts in our own kids.

You know what the WORST thing on the planet has ALWAYS been for my son? Bedtime stories. Bedtime stories mean he'll be up until 2am or 3am all excited. Nope. No bedtime stories. For other kids, stories calm them down, stories ramp him up.

There's a hundred things you CAN try, but it will depend on your daughter what will work:

- Bathtime (muscle relaxing even if they come out in full giggle their muscles are nice and soothed).
- NO Bathtime, because soothed muscles freak some kids out, because they feel out of control and their adrenaline kicks up because they get freaked out.

- Stories (to calm their minds down)
- NO stories (because it ramps up their imagination)

- Music (to whitewash out the world)
- NO Music (too distracting)

- Snuggles (to feel safe/warm)
- NO snuggles (too exciting)

- Talking about their day (relaxing, sets their minds at ease)
- NO Talking about their day (ennervating as they get excited or upset about what happened during the day that they'd already forgotten)

- Routines (for comfort)
- NO Routines (because it brings on the fear that bedtime is coming)

- Prayers (feeling safe with god)
- NO prayers (fear of death/ dying in their sleep)

- Massage (relaxes muscles)
- NO Massage (gets them all wired up)

- Bedtime snack or warm milk (warm full belly = great sleep)
- NO Bedtime snack or warm milk (needing to used the bathroom 10,000 times, winds them)

- Movies (gently drifts off while watching)
- NO Movies (will stay up until dawn riveted)

- Nightlight (fear of the dark/being alone)
- NO Nightlight (room is too exciting when they can see toys to play with books to read)

- Reading (tires out the mind)
- NO Reading (excites the mind)

- Caffeine (for adhd kids, stimulants are calming)
- NO Caffeine (for most kids, stimulants are stimulating)

- Heavy blankets (weight makes them feel secure)
- NO blankens (weight makes them feel trapped) ((both of these can be true for sensory kids, btw, depending on their personal quirks))

- PJs to bed (shifts from daytime to bedtime feelings)
- Streetclothes to bed (mitigates fear of not being "ready" for the morning, or an emergency)

- Fan blowing (white noise, plus feeling on skin is calming)
- NO Fan blowing (noise keeps them awake, or the feeling drives them bonkers)

- Tons of activity/exercise during the day (exhaustion leads to crashing)
- NOT having high levels of activity during the day (overtired = no sleep)

The list just goes on, and on, and on, and on. See what I mean? Nothing works for everyone. Finding out what works for your kid, or what combos under what circumstances is all trial and error.

For the OTC route you've really got TWO NON-ADDICTIVE OPTIONS:

- Melatonin
- Benedryl (antihistamine)

Melatonin makes many people sleepy/ resets their sleep patterning, but for many people it totally *scres* with their sleep patterns (for my ADHD son it's like plugging him into an electrical socket... he's up for 36-40 hours after a single dose of melatonin. EVIL stuff :P),

Benedryl knocks most people out, but for others, it's like taking a quad shot of espresso.

There's no one fix. Just experimenting to find out what works with your wee one.

i could never get my mind to quiet down before bed til my hubby gave me a sound machine. love the white noise cause there is no intervals like a fan. Also, turn off tv and computer an hr before bed and let that time be calm and not crazy runnning around to get things done.

Ask your pediatrician about melatonin.

A relaxing lavender bath, chamomile tea, no tv an hour before bed, a relaxing cd (something with nature sounds or classical music)

Keep her on a sensory diet of activities all day to keep her arousal level and activity level at optimal processing. That way she can settle down easily. Epsom salts added to a bath of water is always good for magnesium intake. Make sure she is on a good probiotic such as I-Flora for KIds, fish oil like Nordic Naturals DHA for Kids, magnesium, calcium and C. Sensory issues are never mild. They interfere greatly with life, school and social. The thing that I have found to be the most helpful though is the Masgutova Method. We have a group that meets once a month to go over exercises and support each other. This by far takes away the anxiety that children are born into. Give lots of heavy pressure to her body before bed, hugs, squeezes and deep massage. You can't go wrong with touch.

I know it's hard, but just as an FYI If you give melatonin to your daughter, it will start to affect her own body's ability to produce melatonin. Which would mean have to depend on it all the time. You didn't mention if you had a bedtime routine. Dinner by a certain time, bath at the same time and then bedtime. I have to get really strict with it that week before school start, and then it take another week for everyone to just give in. :) I you and your daughter get a good nights sleep.

Good for your realizing that it's not healthy to start drugging our children! put some calming oils in her bath, pure essential oils (Roman chamomile, lavender cedarwood, vetiver), not mixed with perfumes, dyes, etc. Take a look at what she's eating too. NO processed foods or anything with dyes, chemicals and especially sugar. I'm suggesting removing these items from her diet permanently, not just before bed. No tv was a good suggestion as is to not eat for 2-3 hours before bed.

Energy balancing and brainwave balancing methods can help, also melatonin, and perhaps mild amounts of herbs like chamomile, valerian, etc. Use relaxation music with delta brainwave entrainment tones; acupressure, reiki, healing touch, massage, can all help balance her energy system and will help with any nervous system issues. I'm a holistic counselor and energy healer in Miami and I've worked with both children and adults to relieve these kinds of issues so I know it can definitely be addressed without using drugs.