To give ds a glass of brandy to get him to sleep?!

[Startingoveryetagain]

The title is lighthearted incase I get flamed or is that a viable option?

Ds 9 does not sleep and it is driving me insane, not to mention physically draining me.
Its honestly like having a newborn, he has always been like this since birth but I'd hoped he would have grown out of it by now.

His normal bedtime is 8 o'clock most nights, he's up and down the stairs coming into my room until at least midnight, he then goes to sleep but is usually up again by 3-4am and gets into my bed.

I've tried everything from lavender baths and sprays on his pillow, white noise even bloody whale music!
He's obviously very tired as he's not concentrating at school, has dark circles under his eyes and will sleep in until late on the weekend of I let him. It's also driving me insane that i can't seem to get him up in the mornings either.

Any suggestions please?

@steppemum

Can I just say, piriton makes some kids sleepy. It has no effect on some and it make some hyper. So if you have never used it, bedtime is not the time to try!

Was just about to say the same - had entirely the opposite affect on my DS - be careful!

Put dc to bed later. I have a nearly 9 year old who has always had trouble sleeping - so I don’t fight it anymore. She goes up at 830 to get dressed, teeth and play in room and then I settle her into bed at 9pm ... and that’s with a book. Then she falls asleep anything between 915-1030.
I have heard good things about weighted blankets. I’m going to buy one soon as it would be great if she was asleep not long after 9.
But don’t fight it, it’s very hard on both of you. So try a later bedtime.

Maybe a table spoon not a whole glass

It really makes no difference if I put him to bed later or earlier, he just doesn't want to sleep.
I can see he is exhausted, but he will not rest the last few nights have been quite bad, he's not been going to sleep until midnight then awake again at 3 -4 then up again at 7.30 for school.
I'm barely functioning so I don't know how he's still going, trying to get him up in the morning is like waking the dead.

@cockroachcrumble12 I was thinking of just giving him the bottle with a straw

My DB was a bastard for not sleeping. When he was a toddler, and awake half the night, my DM went to the GP for tranquillisers because she was at the end of her tether (this was in the 60s, when they handed them out like Smarties).

The doctor told her that it wasn't her that needed the tranquillisers, but my DB, and he recommended a few drops of brandy in his last bottle at night.

I don't recall if she ever tried it though.

Other countries melatonin is an otc supplement rather than prescription only. You can get it online in the U.K. if the company is based overseas, it’s perfectly legal. Like a previous poster I buy from Biovea they even do fruit flavoured gummies

In the meantime, definitely move his computer time. It's too close to his bedtime, and it will keep him awake. I have sworn blind this wasn't true, but we moved my sisters as a last resort and she went from being awake thinking about random nothings like your son is, to being able to sleep pretty well. It needs to be at least 90 minute away from bedtime... he can read in that time, if he wants, but no screens.

If that, plus an antihistamine, make a difference now; you'll both be able to get a few good nights sleep and then it'll be easier to start working on him not coming into your room.

Am right there with you. My 7 year old just doesn't get sleepy until after 9, and currently can't fall asleep on his own. So, either one of us stays in his room until he falls asleep (meaning that we get no evening to ourselves), or we just let him sleep in with us (meaning that we do get an evening, but are restricted in what we can watch). He just won't fall asleep - he can be lying there, perfectly comfortable, eyes shut, audiobook on, for up to an hour. However, my 9 year old daughter needs her sleep, and will crash and burn by 8pm. He keeps her up late, and then she is tired and cranky the next day.

Phenergan sends my daughter completely hyper, it made things 1000 x worse! So beware of that and be prepared in case that happens. The GP prescribed it but didn’t warn us that it may have the opposite effect and it was quite a shock!!

DD now takes Jelly Kids Sweet Dreams liquid which contains a tiny amount of melatonin. It has changed everything! She was awake until 1am some nights but now she’s always asleep before 8pm and usually sleeps through.