Any thoughts on why my ds finds it so hard to drop off to sleep?

[HonoriaGlossop]

He's five, in year one. He's at the moment still awake despite going up for stories at 6.30pm.

He's no trouble, good as gold, but he's just awake for SO long, and I can hear him talking away to himself. We talk to him after stories, dh or I, as he always wants to go over the day, which is lovely; but he WOULD talk till midnight if we didn't stop at some point.

I think we have a good bedtime routine but maybe you have some other ideas?

He has dinner at about 5pm, then either a play or a bath. He watches one programme while he has his 'bedtime supper' (all good stuff, no junk!) and a glass of warm milk....the programme is cbeebies btw, usually storymakers so not too stimulating for bedtime I wouldn't think?...then he has some bedtime stories, and a chat.....and then he just STAYS AWAKE.

Does he just need a much later bedtime I wonder? TBH I've just assumed if he goes up at 8pm he will be awake till 11pm!

Any ideas/experiences? TIA!

What time do you expect him to go to sleep at? Dd was in bed at 7.30 at that age, 6.30 does sound a little bit early.

However sometimes he would look at books or rattle around until about 8.00pm and then fall asleep

He sounds a bit like me tbh. My whole life it has taken me a long time to get to sleep. I've never been able to lie down and just drift off. I was the same as a child but my parents were quite strict at staying in my room/bed and lights off at a certain time.

Actually I think that's important as I can naturally keep going until very late at night (see many early hours posts..) and so suffer in the morning. If I go to bed at 10 I probably won't be asleep until midnight but if I go to bed at midnight I'll still be trying to get to sleep at nearly one.

What I'm trying to say is that if he is like me you should still put him to bed at a reasonable time but be fairly lenient as long as he's being quiet and is winding down in his own way towards sleep. It just might naturally take him a bit of time.

My 5yo is the same
she is still jabbering away to her sylvanian families (who appear to be having a wedding)

oh, thank you - not so unusual then...

fizz, he has had a fairly early bed till recently, as from a baby he was PROGRAMMED to wake between five and six am. During his first five years I really wanted him to get as near to twelve hours as possible, so we put him to bed early. He didn't used to take this long to drop off and as I say I was nervous of putting him up later in case he was just awake till god knows when.

Thanks also spook and CD; good to know it's not unusual. I think we'll just carry on letting him have his wind down time. So you don't think there's anything else/different/more that we could do with his bedtime routine?

He seems to go over and over things that happened in the day. He can be quite anxious sometimes. I want to help him to switch off. I wonder if a relaxation tape would be any use

A relaxation or story tape might be good actually.

I used to specialise in reorganising my bedroom in the small hours. I was an expert at moving wardrobes across the floor inch by inch so as not to wake anyone. Odd, odd, child

Yeah, of course, story tapes are brilliant, they never get bored of them and it does soothe them

Yes, I'll give the tapes a go.

Fizz, You have made me very grateful that we are only dealing with a non-sleeping child rather than a completely re-organized bedroom each morning! did you have therapy?

oops, sorry, that was to spook, not Fizz.

(was momentarily wrong footed by the utter weirdness of moving furniture at night )

my 6 year old ds2 upstairs now listening to Horrid Henry....He will happily stay awake until 11pm!!!! I'm soo glad to hear that this is not just us...but I can't find a solution for love nor money...I've tried, cd's, massage,..warm milk, long stories,..later bedtimes anyone got any other ideas...anyone?

Oh..and he wanders in the night!!!!!!

My 9yo still listens to a tots tv tape every.single.night.

He would die if his rufty-tufty friends knew.

developmental therapy??? Go google it as I don't know that much about it but dd has got to sleep quicker since we saw a therapist and started her treatment - it's something to do with reflexes and all that.

Cargirl is that not for children with ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders?

Oh, it got weirder . I once really freaked out a babysitter by deciding to play my recorder up in my room a couple of hours after she thought I was asleep.

I'm better now though.

Life must be an adventure in your house -

each morning: "Now, where did I leave the living room?"

Ingles2, not it's not just for people with autism and ADHD. My dd still had her morro reflex, rooting reflex and some other immature reflexes. It's hugely improved her gross motor skills - she can now run properly (rather than side to side toddle waddle) and ride a scooter!

My 5 yr ols gets into bed at 8, but is frequently still awake until 9 or even later in the holidays.

He is happy playing quietly and reading his books.

I take a while to settle to sleep, so think it's fair enough.

my ds is the same,especially on school nights.i was worrying he wasn't getting enough sleep but he just doesn't get tired.
he's better when he's been playing outside after tea,or i make a point of going for a walk or to the park for a kick about with his ball.alot easier with the lighter nights.
i also moved bedtime half hour later to 8 o'clock.he will still not fall asleep easy without the exercise after tea though.
HTH