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9yo bedtime routine

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Curlewwoohoo · 10/12/2023 20:12

Hoping for any reassurance or bright ideas here. My 9yo daughter currently gets taken up to bed at 8:45, in bed by 9pm after being read a few pages of a book. However she's increasingly finding it hard to get to sleep then and will frequently call me with various excuses. 9pm is my 'line' for having her downstairs, and doing a bedtime routine where I read her stories. But I don't know where to go next... Screens in her room are a no, really. She doesn't like to read to herself - she's dyslexic and reading is a high concentration task not a leisure activity. I don't want her being noisy in her room as her brother is asleep. And tbh she won't be that happy to entertain herself away from the rest of the household. What do people do here?

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Stuckhelp · 10/12/2023 20:19

My 9 year old daughter is dyslexia and we get her audiobooks that she really enjoys. She has a Bluetooth headphone set so she can listen quietly

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Curlewwoohoo · 10/12/2023 20:24

Oh thanks, feel like I really should have thought of that!!! She has an Alexa speaker in her room, if I can work out how to play a story on that then that would be better than her tablet.

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Curlewwoohoo · 22/12/2023 07:11

So on some nights she's still struggling to sleep at 11pm. Would people wake child in the morning, or let them catch up? Feel like catch ups perpetuate not getting to sleep, but also help keep child functional!

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carolsandchristmas · 22/12/2023 07:18

I think 9pm is very late for a 9 year old on a regular basis. Maybe she's overstimulated or overtired. 8pm is when my 8 and 10 year old go to bed. Usually asleep quite quickly.
I echo the audible books on Alexa. Or just reading a book quietly and then she can drift off by herself

Tiredbehyondbelief · 22/12/2023 07:29

I always woke my children up early, even on the weekends and holidays. Regardless of what time they went to bed. Only 1 or 2 hours later in exceptional circumstances. I think routine is good. It's paying off now when they are teenagers and all their friends sleep till midday on weekends. I often wonder how do their friends manage to get on Monday mornings and how much knowledge do they take at school?

moderationincludingmoderation · 22/12/2023 07:41

My 10 year old has always struggled with getting to sleep. The early years were a nightmare as slept badly throughout the night.
Now she sleeps solidly when she has finally got to sleep.
DH and I like to go to bed early so we all go to bed together at 8.30/9, and read. DH will nod off around 9.30, and I could too, but DD is still full of beans.
We've started with audiobooks in her room from that point but I can leave them on for 90mins and she'll still be awake and back to find me.
She seems to often need a number 2 at that time! So often she isn't asleep til 11pm. Even on school nights. She needs waking up in the mornings and a few nudges, but
Once she's awake, she's fine.
We've tried waking her up earlier, it doesnt have any impact. There's been times when we've been up at 5am for a flight etc and she still has been last to fall asleep that night!
She was like this from the moment she was born...! She's just very alert!

Marblessolveeverything · 22/12/2023 08:02

At nine I would start exploring some sleep hygiene methods to help her. So I would have her in her room earlier, low lighting, audio book.

There are numerous scents for pillows etc. Do you know if she is struggling to sleep,? As in she is trying to sleep but not able or simply she is still wise awake?

If she is wide awake is her mind racing or running through her day? Dyslexia can impact processing. She may need to wind down longer.

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Curlewwoohoo · 22/12/2023 08:04

That's very interesting, she is dyslexic and yes just lies there thinking.

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Curlewwoohoo · 22/12/2023 08:05

I would agree on paper but she's always been low sleep. I worked with a sleep consultant and the doctor when she was 4/5. Putting her to bed 'too early' for her results in being awake for hours at 2am.

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Curlewwoohoo · 22/12/2023 08:11

Dh picked her up an mp4 player for Christmas that links up to audible. Thinking we can use that as part of her winding down in bed.

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Dynamoat · 22/12/2023 08:21

My dd listens to audible via Alexa all night, I buy the books on my account and then you can set up Amazon kids so she only has access to certain ones (not my jack reacher novel for example). She tends to listen to the same book for weeks and weeks, again and again, before switching. Her teachers have praised her vocab and I think the audible books are the reason.

Marblessolveeverything · 22/12/2023 08:31

I have dyslexia and o found I need to process my day before I can start to sleep. When I was her age I had a diary: she can use audio recording if writing is troublesome.

When I was a teen I started yoga and meditation and find these very helpful. Hopefully over the Christmas break she can try a few suggestions.

moderationincludingmoderation · 22/12/2023 08:36

This is interesting about the dyslexia as my DD new teacher has just brought up queries about testing her.

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