DD (6) won't go to sleep once put in bed - tips?

[hummusavocado]

DD (age 6) gets put to bed at 8pm, but often is still awake at 10.15pm!!
She is allowed to read books after bed time, gets read a story. No screens before bed etc. Often gets out citing "bad thoughts" (a ploy to be allowed into my bed and I usually end up in hers as she starfishes!! Or wants a hug, needs the loo, etc etc

It's driving me nuts! I want her to sleep earlier - she is ratty and grumpy. She still wakes at the same time 7.15am but often bursts into tears too tired.

If anyone has any tips on getting her into a better earlier sleep time and routine I would welcome them.
Thank you :)

Is the room properly blacked out? My DD has needed this her whole life to sleep. In the summer, even with normal curtains. The room is fairly light.

My almost 7yo DD has decided she can't sleep. She went from bed and asleep at 7 to faffing and declaring she couldn't sleep. We tried telling her she could read and settle once tired but that didn't work as she didn't know when she should stop. It'd be rolling round to 9pm and she'd still be awake.

So now we settle her little sister at 7pm and she lies in my bed for half an hour having reading time (they share a room). We set the timer and after 30 mins I go up, have a chat and what have you and properly settle her to her bed. This has worked really well as she still has a definite time to stop and bedtime routine, but the extra reading time has made the difference. We also refuse to entertain complaints after she's settled and so she's given up trying!!

Anxiety blankets can work wonders.

I'm worried by the word 'won't'. I was an insomniac child and it certainly wasn't by choice. 'Won't' could be 'can't'. You need to take the stress out of sleeping and going to sleep. Let her fall asleep near you, for example.

We use the stories at storynory.com for my difficult to settle 5 year old. She loves the Katie the Witch series and is usually drifting off to sleep by the end of them.

@JuneFromBethesda
No worries! I saw a poster in our library and thought I'd give it a try. My library doesn't have tonnes of kids titles but my DS likes to listen to the same one over and over anyway