6 yr old can't sleep

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Preschoolers

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mother48

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 8:37 pm

my 6yr old has a reallly hard time falling asleep. will take like 1 1/2-2hrs on average. not b/c he wants to, not b/c he's thinking of things, just can't sleep, even when we lay with him. He's really good, he'll stay in bed for hrs, and come out to say, I want to fall asleep already.

anyone have some natural remedy or advice on getting a kid to fall asleep?!

mummiedearest ↓

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 8:54 pm

speak to your pediatrician about it. insomnia can be helped by different things depending on its severity. does he wake up at night too? there are some simple relaxation exercises that work for some people. also, I know it is recommended (for adults, anyway, don't know much about insomnia in little kids) to get out of bed and do something rather than lie in bed for an hour or more. try having him walk around for five to ten minutes if he can't sleep and try again. make sure he doesn't spend time on a computer or tv for an hour or two before bedtime, try giving him warms baths before bed, give him some warm milk if he's willing to drink it. is there anything that used to relax him to sleep as a baby? also, don't let him have anything with caffiene for a few days. you may want to cut down on sugar if he usually eats sweets.

is this a new problem? if it's new, find out what's bothering him lately.

amother

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 9:35 pm

is he going into bed too early?

momto4

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 10:45 pm

my 8 yr. old was diagnosed with insomnia. he also had a very hard time falling asleep at night. he now takes an over the counter medicine called melatonin and it has helped a lot.

flowerpower

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 10:49 pm

My dc is the same way. He has a long day. We have a normal downtime routine towards bedtime plus quiet time in bed and falls asleep an hour after laying in bed. He just fell asleep and its almost eleven. This is every night. I always say that tomorrow I am going to get something tomorrow for his sleeping. If you find something good then I would be happy.

↑ mummiedearest

Tue, Jun 03 2008, 11:02 pm

momto4 wrote:

my 8 yr. old was diagnosed with insomnia. he also had a very hard time falling asleep at night. he now takes an over the counter medicine called melatonin and it has helped a lot.

I didn't know there was such a medicine for kids. I know that adults are sometimes put on sleeping pills for a few nights to get the body into a sleeping rhythm. other adults take them longer.

if nothing works and you don't want to try medicine, you may want to take your child to a chiropractor. they can sometimes help.

manhattanmom

Tue, Jun 17 2008, 11:49 am

momto4 wrote:

my 8 yr. old was diagnosed with insomnia. he also had a very hard time falling asleep at night. he now takes an over the counter medicine called melatonin and it has helped a lot.

I know some kids who take melatonin and it works wonders for them!
Is your child able to function well during the entire day? Maybe he doesn't need that much sleep.

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