6 yo ds NEVER gets to sleep before 930pm on school nights and It's driving me nuts

[WTFwasthat]

he starts school at 845, has a busy day, finishes school 345pm. home, usual stuff. Then later bath, bed, story or puzzle book, then 60-90 fucking minutes later he is still awake . it is driving me to despair! surely this it too freaking late??? what can i do???

Maybe he just isn't tired?

Could exercise/fresh air be increased? Or do you think he is too 'wired' from all the stimulation.

I have exactly the same...I think my dd is just a night owl like me! Great big pita when trying to have a quiet evening and keep being interrupted!!!!

DD is never asleep before 9pm. She usually watches a DVD from about 7 to 8 or some programme on the computer and then she goes to bed at 8 with a story and reads of draws up in her room until lights out at 9. She has just turned 7 and has been like this since she started school.

not sure why he is doing it? He didnt 3 months ago!!! he has a piano lesson once weekly, we are model building some eves, we have a pup so walk the dog. No real changes to his schedule. i have to wake him every morning at around 730-740 so he is tired in morNing but seems happy enough, it it very very irritating. Is hecwired? Am I destined to never get another night of peace? oh me oh my

So a new thing and nothing has changed. Does he come down and interrupt you after you have put him to bed?

Waking him up sounds like he should be sleeping earlier, DD wakes up by herself at around 7am.

no nothing has changed, apart from him being a pita now!!!. he sits u/s whinng that he cannot sleep, he potters around drawing etc. which i don't particularly mind but i do think he needs more sleep. we have to be up at 6am thurs. i am hiping he needs an early night as a result. i get so bloody irritated by it, i am a horrid Mummy after 830pm

Try a black out blind in his bedroom, complete darkness assists natural secretion of the hormone melatonin which aids sleep. Before preparing him for bed go upstairs before he goes up and close all the curtains and ensure that if any lights are switched on, they are dim. Therefore dim light in bedroom whilst he is getting changed, have only a dim light in the bathroom, the same on the landing and only a dim light in the bedroom whilst reading. He should read to you first then finally you read to him. If tucked up in bed, head on the pillow just listening to your voice, softly, quietly reading to him in a very dim light this will encourage the production of the melatonin and encourage sleep. Puzzles or anything else that stimulates the brain won't help the situation. I hope this helps.

he has blackout curtains and a bedtime routine that has worked for ages but not now. he does seem to have a very active mind and our stories have altered from regular child's books to fact books which he seems to prefer rigjt now. Maybe Ishould switch back to regular reading to him. He does seem to be wired! Thanks

I have friends whose method was to never read a bedtime story. Any stories were read before evening set in! They had a livewire daughter (two in fact) and they managed to get them asleep for 7.30 at that age by this method. Friend had another friend who used relaxing stay up late parenting methods,and after seeing the moods of those kids she swore that early bedtime was key to health and happiness. I think children can stay awake (like adults) much longer than is in fact healthy for them.

I used to read a bedtime story but my children were lazy dozy docile sleepers in the main so it didn't cause any problems in winding down. Certainly there have been times when going to bed has been disrupted by desire for attention from one or other child, and a pattern set in of disruption,staying up late etc. We then really made an effort not to let things slide, and started going to bed earlier etc, being more routine about bedtime, everything just so etc...

tips include, hanging around landing tidying near child's bedroom so they get used to being awake in companionable isolation (and hopefully drop off to familiar noises)
Nothing electrical after 6pm (no screens or play gadgets)
Snack before bed to increase sense of evening ending!
Be prepared to be around in shortterm (lying down in bed, sitting on floor, 5 min checking) for the child or give them something to occupy in their room with a lamp for short time (book, toys) so they get used to idea that you aren't there, so that they don't stay awake to seek out your companionship (which is major factor) and get into habit of coming downstairs and starting bedtime routine all over again. Being firm doesn't help sometimes, especially if they are wound up.

My DD has started going to sleep much quicker since we turned out the hallway light - it was keeping her awake.

another tip is to lie in child's bed and see if there is anything disturbing you, angle of light, strange noises. Gives more insight into why it might not be so easy to settle down.

Or rearrange bed, for better karma? It is true it works!!! Apparently you should never have a bed facing south, as it is too enlivening! North facing best arrangement.

I have a house full of them, OP. With the older ones as long as they are quiet in their rooms after 9pm, and get up okay in the morning, so be it.

My DD is just the same. She was a great sleeper, out like a light at 7pm and not a squeak until morning, then from about 4 or 5 she got later and later going to sleep which was a nightmare as she shared a room with younger sister and kept her awake, much mayhem, exhaustion and strife. From around aged 6 she had her own room and I basically gave up. We had tried story CDs, relaxation CDs, white noise, the radio on classic, aromatherapy, room warmer, room colder. Nothing helped and she rarely fell asleep before 9.30. She is active, eats well no screen time of any sort near bed time. Always had good bath time and wind down routine. Life improved dramatically for all of us once she started to read properly. Now aged 8 she is a voracious reader and so is at least in bed and relaxed. Lights off is meant to be 9 pm, but she is rarely asleep before 10. I appreciate this isn't a great deal of help. You may need simply to accept the way things are and work with it (eg focus on getting him reading so at least he can relax an enjoy the time in bed before he drops off)