Sleeping problems (9-year-old )

[Somebodyimportant1]

Hello all, I am deeply worried about my 9 year old son who started finding it very very hard to sleep at night for the past 4 weeks or so. He is awake till 2 am at night in bed but can't sleep (he is still awake now). I do not want to call the doctor because I do not want him to be medicated. He tends to use his iPad and computer to play games and watches YouTube during the day after his schoolwork is done.
I also noticed that he hasn't got much appetite these days - when I get his breakfast ready, he says he not hungry yet and sometimes, he does not eat until noon or afternoon. He is also very fussy and there is very little he likes to eats these days apart from steak, flapjack and coco pops mixed with crunchy but for breakfast. 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ I am very sad, confused and seeking suggestions and advice, please.

What time does he get up and How is his mood in the day?

I wouldn't worry too much if his mood is good, maybe think about giving him the right kind of foods to help sleep at night. I think bananas is one but you'll have to google. And more fresh air in the day will help... is he getting out in the garden or are you going for walks. Make sure he's not got his tech in his room at night and consider turning off all devices 30 mins or so before bedtime

My dd is 11 and she's gone off breakfast, she's still awake at midnight, but in the day she's happy and I think right now that's what's important. I guess when they were at school they're much more tired after the day

@fannyFERNACKERPANN thanks, he wakes up late say around 11 am but I do have to wake him before 10:30 most of the time to attend his class morning meeting. His mood is just about ok during the day. He is not happy to do school work at all (in fact, he hates school work but I make him do it so he is sad about that 🤷🏽‍♀️. He is happy when playing games). He wants to be in his room most of the time and does not like going outside at all (although I force him sometimes). Is he just becoming a teenager a bit too early?

I don't think as a rule doctors in the UK are in a rush to give medication to children for sleep so I wouldn't hold off seeing one for that reason - ultimately if you he did end up being offered medication it would also be fine for you (or him) to decline it. It is extremely uncommon for the medication used to be anything apart from melatonin (which has quite a safe risk profile) - is there something you are particularly worried about it in this respect?

I think the pandemic has probably been bad for children's sleep overall - both in terms of reducing the activities that tire them out, more exposure to screens around bedtime, and creating anxiety more generally.

Though fairly basic there is some information presented here on sleep in children and it's worth going through to see whether his sleep environment and routines are optimising the chance of a good night's sleep.

www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/healthy-sleep-tips-for-children/