Tips for falling asleep - 6/7 year old

[ThatsNotAKnifeThatsASpoon]

My 6 (nearly 7) year old dd has always struggled to go to sleep at a decent hour. Over the years we've adjusted her bedtime hours to reflect this, meaning she goes to bed later than I'd like to make sure she is tired enough to fall asleep. She always needs help waking in the morning so it's not that she doesn't need as much sleep as other kids, she does, she just struggles to switch off.

I think I was similar as a kid and often secretly stayed awake late reading and, when older, listening to the radio on a walkman. Has anyone any suggestions for something I could put in her room to distract her when she is trying to fall asleep, but not actually stimulate her too much?

I wondered about audio books though how does that work practically, not keen on leaving her with a device on her own at night.

Any ideas?

BTW not putting her to bed at 7pm or anything, more like 9pm, with a 7am start and she is is a zombie in the morning!

My just 7 year old is like this, I haven't found a solution though. I'm considering trying audiobooks or kids podcasts with a timer so they turn off after an hour or so but haven't got round to it yet.

Generally I just keep telling him to lie down and have some rest, it doesn't matter if he sleeps or not but his body needs to be still - meant to take the pressure off feeling that he HAS to fall asleep. He's convinced he sleeps with his eyes open :o so has a pillow pet night light thingy that projects stars onto the ceiling and turns itself off after 15 minutes, he sometimes will lie and watch that.

story cd's? a warm bath with some lavender oil and some warm milk or Horlicks afterwards? these used to help me to sleep when I was little that and my mum reading a story after bath etc. my dds are the same they are a nightmare together they play get out of bed laugh for ages and nothing I do seems to work.. it is exhausting. I know what you mean about staying awake though I used to be the same would read for hours when I got to about 8-9 years old I just couldn't sleep, I sometimes think it's just a phase kids go through.

oh I forgot to suggest massage it used to work before I had my 2nd dd and they reached the age where they can play together.

You can get guided meditation CDs for children to aid relaxation / mindfulness which might help him? I haven't tried them but the ones for adults work well for me.

I was the same as a kid (and still am to some extent). I used to read books and make up stories in my head.

10 yr old dd struggles to settle to sleep, I think part of it is she finds it hard to switch off. Something we've found helpful is to use a lavender scented wheat pouch and being very strict about lights off time. A regular bedtime and waking time helps dd too.

I wouldn't do the audio book thing. In my experience it keeps them awake. Try some soft music in the background eg relaxation type CDs as these tend to be desiged to let the mind drift rather than entertain it. You have my sympathy, my DD7 has just got up for the 4th time tonight, still not asleep ffs!

If you find the cure please update this thread!

Thanks all for replying. She is still awake and we have had a conversation about telling her brain to stop when it starts thinking about something when she is nearly asleep. She usually makes up stories and talks to herself til she falls asleep but I think she herself is getting fed up with it at this stage!

I might look into meditation music, thanks, yes I wondered if audio stories would be too stimulating. Need to source a small cd player for her room next for it.