AIBU to worry that my nearly eight-year-old never seems tired?

[FedUp120028]

My nearly 8yo dd will NOT sleep. For example today we have been swimming, bowling, running srpund playing etc rtc but she is absolutely off her nut and it is 11pm. It is all the time. Wtf do I do?

My 11 yo ds is only ever tired by school not physical activity. He is probably not NT though.

I impose bedtime on him regardless of whether he's tired as he sees sleeping as a sign of "giving in". The routine helps a bit. He's never needed the average amount of sleep though.

I'm also considering introducing melatonin after a couple of friends have it prescribed for their dc who have similar sleep challenges.

Solidarity to you though-its tough having a non sleeper. Dc2 and DC3 love sleep and are so much easier!

My DD is the same. She'd go to bed at midnight if she could

It’s not that she isn’t tired - it’s more that she is over stimulated. Like a labrador puppy after charging about all day.

What time will she wake up and does she sleep through the night? My just turned 7yr old generally sleeps 9 hours and is at full power up until the point she falls asleep, we haven’t spent a whole day at home for years because she would be bouncing off the walls. Think some kids are just like that.

OP my 8yo is not as bad as yours but quite lively.

We have a highly strict bedtime routine to deal with it, like this

1830 calm down time, no shouting or wrestling or going on trampoline

1845 upstairs for bath

Then milk, teeth, jamas, story with a grown up

1930 in bed, lights down except for reading lamp and can do quiet reading - any getting out of bed or shouting and it is lights out

2000 lights out

This dials her energies right back, I find. She is normally asleep by 2030.

You've wound her up (which is a good thing - use energy) but she needs help to wind down. Lights low, calm activities, slow transitions, clear expectations. If she can't sleep, fine, but she needs to be in her bed quietly so sleep can come when it's ready.

Some kids are worn out by activity and some are stimulated by it and need more time to calm down. We always had 'quiet time' after dinner, so no running around and loud playing, just lego, jigsaws etc, reading or a couple of winding down gentle tv shows. Then upstairs, bath, pj's, lots of reading books in bed, cuddles and then lights out. You can't make a child sleep but at 8, she's old enough to know she has to stay in bed. Maybe she could listen to some audiobooks for a little while?

My 7 year old has always needed less sleep than the norm at every age, even as a baby with naps. We never experienced the 'Reception will exhaust her!' phenomenon that is so often repeated on MN - she would happily cycle a mile home, do a sports club and still have energy for playing at home (and was a summer-born so 4 for the entire school year). We are very strict about bedtime though and the expectation of staying in bed. She reads until late or sometimes doodles in a notepad. I'm always amazed though that that amount of quiet time doesn't just make her feel sleepy sooner.

We were done by 4pm, home for dinner etc is that plenty of time for it?