Can I so anything about her (lack of) sleep?

[crazygracieuk]

Dd is nearly 8.

She dropped her daytime sleep at 15m and until she started school she slept 11-7 without being grumpy the next day.

At the moment she averages 9pm-5am. I put her to bed at 8pm after a calming routine but it's 9pm before she falls asleep.

How can I help her wind down quicker or go back to sleep? As a baby she slept through very early on so I wonder if she's never learned how to fall asleep? She is extremely cheerful during the day and doesn't have bags under her eyes but I worry about her lack of sleeping. She can wake up as early as 3:30 and says that she can't go back to sleep.

When she wakes up she usually reads or does jigsaws until I get up.

Her diet is healthy with very few processed foods, water or milk to drink etc and she doesn't have screen time after 6:30pm. She walks the mile to school and is constantly bouncing/skipping/dancing etc

Any ideas?

My dd (just 9) is the same, although she's never seemed to need much sleep.

I take and ds up at about 7pm to have a shower/bath and quiet reading/story/music on her ipod shuffle but she'll still be coming down saying she can't sleep until between 10:30 - 11:00.

I have tried everything except hypnotherapy but found that by me lying with her and massaging her eyes/head and doing a relaxing-type mantra about relaxing every bit of her body, she gets to a point where she's ready for sleep.

DD is very academic and she is constantly thinking or talking about something and I just think she finds it hard to switch off.

I think your dd just doesn't need that much sleep - 8 hours is still good. I think if she was like my dd, you'd be dragging her out her bed every morning; the fact she wakes by herself and isn't moody in the day, means she's getting the right amount.