Is this new sleep thing 'just a phase' or should I worry (7yo dd)

[singyswife]

Hi

My dd was not a great sleeper till she was about 2.5. since then she has been approx 8pm - 7am ish. This varies slightly.

However, over the last week she has started to not go to sleep when we put her to bed, ususal routine, pj's, teeth, story etc. She is up and down and up and down and up and down. It changes, the first night she claimed she needed to keep pooing, the second night she was thirsty, the third night she slept and then last night she was allegedly upset that she was mean to her sister (They are always mean to each other). I have asked her if there is anything wrong and she says no. She is still awake at 10.30pm. IS this some mad phase or do we have a problem??????

bump, I may dissapear for a while as I have to get dc's from school but I will check in later. TIA

????

No one with any advice?? Okay then thanks

It looks like she has started playing the game and it works! I am sure it is a phase... keep strong, put her back to bed without mentioning a word, she will stop playing it since she has been so good with bedtime in the past!! Our DD(3.4) tries that game too every few months but it does pass...Good Luck

Singy, how is she getting on at school? is there a chance she could be being bullied? I had same problem with ds1 (now 10) and I let it slip by, we still have bedtime issues but we are working round it in a way that suits us all. At 8.30 he goes to bed and can read until he falls asleep which is usually by 10 the latest.

His sleep issues initially began because of the bullying but I focused too much on that and not the sleep.

Try asking her about school???

Sorry Singyswife, i just noticed your DD is 7yrs old...

She gets ready for school fine and goes skipping in, I would have thought I would have issues getting her to school if there was a problem. She also always talks about school and it is positive. Loves her teacher, likes who she sits beside etc.

Do you think it could be a game at 7?? I would have thought that as she is tired ( and she is, you can see it) that if it was a game she would have gone to sleep.

Hhhhhmmmmmm??????

Sun and moon, cross posts. lol

My DS is 7 and has been a pest to get to bed on and off since he started year 2, just as you describe 'I NEED A POO - I AM THIRSTY - DON'T LIKE THIS ETC ETC. Just as we sit down for dinner his face appears at the window. His teacher said he was fine, although he is strugling with reading as is being assessed for dsylexia, she did say that they have a lot to process this year, so this may be part of the bed time hoo haa. We have left him to read with a book in bed till he feels tired, give him some self responsibility and more often than not 20 mins later he is flat out with the light on. He insists he is not tired, but the grey bags tell otherwise. He does get to stay up late on a either a Saturday or Friday night, 9.30pm, as DH works away a lot in the week and he misses him. I have ds2 aged 22 months, so it works ok. Good luck.

Have a look at this recent thread...lots of good ideas on there

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sleep/648093-8yr-old-wont-go-to-sleep-well-after-we-lay

Possibly try a star chart? Worked for us when DD started waking up in the night and coming in to wake us up, just to tell us she was awake, iyswim (grr). She was 6 or 7 at the time.

singy my DD also 7 has periods of calling us back frequently - much better than it used to be but still maddening at times!! usually anxiety-related in her case. i also favour the giving her a book and leaving it up to her approach. we give her 20 mins or so and come up and see her again, and usually she is quite ready to turn the lights off then. it's not ALWAYS that straightforward but it often works! she is a massive bookworm which helps, of course.

Well last night I gave her tea about 5.15pm (she had a friend round after school so this helped), then I walked her over to take her friend home (about 30 minute round trip), brought her h ome and did the normal bed time routine, she was asleep by 830pm and slept all night. Now just to make it clear, my children get excersise and fresh air every day after school so this isnt something new but it seemed to work last night. Long may it continue.

Thank you all for your ideas.