My 4.5yo doesn't sleep. He coud stay up for days. I have tried everything I have seen, heard, read or been told and he does not sleep.
We've seen sleep therapists, doctors, and massage therapists tbey all say "he'll sleep one day". He quit taking naps before his first birthday.
he is a gifted child. He was tested this year and tested out of the 1st grade in every subject. He tested out of the 3rd grade in science and vocabulary. I was told by an educator that often times gifted children sleep less. Their brains can't turn off so they can't fall asleep. So we made ds a brain switch so at bedtime he could "turn his brain off" yhat worked for maybe a week.
He has the same bedroom routine for over a year. He has the same bedtime for over a year, we've tried moving it forward and backwards to see if that helped and it's never changed anything. We put him to bed, if he talks or gets up we go put him back no talking...doesn't help. We played classical lullabies at night to try to relax him so he could fall asleep, it made hi more hyper. We've decorated his ceiling in glow in the dark solor system and stars for him to count and look at, didn't help.
We've let him watch an Episode of How Its Made or Myth Busters before bedtime...this has helped a little...occasionally.
I need help, ideas, anything. I NEED my child to sleep!
I find on Tuesday's she goes to sleep the quickest. That's my day off. We do a lot of errands in the mornings, go outside and play in the afternoons then have a play date after dinner.
We've been taking her for walks most days after dinner now and it seems to burn off energy and help the process of bedtime routine go a little faster.
Before we started evening walks, she wouldn't fall asleep until 11pm (waking at 8am) now its about 9pm.
My Emma is advanced (not gifted as she's too young yet to diagnose)
Sometimes coloring before bed helps for us too (maybe find something that they like that's mind engaging/creative before bedtime-for Emma it's coloring)
Good luck!
Quoting zolanmel:
Have you tried melatonin?
Quoting Abee2202:
I think you've described my 29mo Emma. I wish I could help....I understand what your going through tho. We had a good solid routine since she was a baby but its been since thrown out the window the last few months. She doesn't nap anymore and takes the better part of two or more hours to get her asleep. Once she's asleep she sleeps long and hard with the exceptions of nightmares and night terrors a few times a month.
I find on Tuesday's she goes to sleep the quickest. That's my day off. We do a lot of errands in the mornings, go outside and play in the afternoons then have a play date after dinner.
We've been taking her for walks most days after dinner now and it seems to burn off energy and help the process of bedtime routine go a little faster.
Before we started evening walks, she wouldn't fall asleep until 11pm (waking at 8am) now its about 9pm.
My Emma is advanced (not gifted as she's too young yet to diagnose)
Sometimes coloring before bed helps for us too (maybe find something that they like that's mind engaging/creative before bedtime-for Emma it's coloring)
Good luck!
Yep. My two gifted, ADHD kids can't shut off their brains, either, and have never been good sleepers. I agree with the PP about melatonin. The body makes melatonin to help regulate sleep cycles. Some people don't make enough naturally. You can buy synthetic versions of melatonin over-the-counter at many stores.
My kids use Source Naturals, orange flavored liquid melatonin (bought online). They only needed small doses to start (1/4mg), though many kids need much, much more (3-5mg or more). As my kids got older, they needed larger doses to be effective. You can also get chewables; the chewables usually come in higher doses (3+mg).
My son was about 10yrs when he started using melatonin, and he didn't seem to have any negative side effects. My daughter was about 3yrs when she started taking it. I don't know whether it's because she was fighting sleep or what, but she'd get REALLY cranky for about 20-min before falling asleep. When my daughter was younger, the melatonin would work within about 30-min. She's 8yrs now. She takes about 1.5mg melatonin, and it takes about an hour to kick in, but I think she fights sleep more now. I might need to increase her dosage again.
My almost 2 year old was never a good sleeper. He's very smart and very active and has a hard time just turning his brain "off" and chilling out. I am learning that keeping him active during the day helps, but more importantly, before bedtime or nap time, he needs time to relax and calm down or he absolutely will not go to sleep. He usually goes to bed around 8:30pm, so I start bedtime about 7pm with a bath. After that I make sure the tv is off. I play classical music while he quietly plays or I read to him. I have a 9 year old also and everyone knows in the house that this is "quiet time". It has really helped my son kind of get ready and accept that soon it is bedtime. Good luck :)
Potty Training
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- OBImomma
on May. 6, 2012 at 11:54 PM