My 7 year old is crying saying he cannot sleep

[hahavzv]

Help!

My 7 year old is tired. He even says he's tired. We have a consistent bed time routine. Today he is just crying and when I ask why he is crying he says it's because he can't go to sleep.

What could be the reason for this? I've asked him if he's thinking about anything and he says he's not thinking about anything and just can't get himself to sleep. Weird?!

Have you tried reading to him or putting on a tape of a story or music? Think about what he eats and drinks. Coffee, tea and chocolate keep me awake no matter how tired I am.

Read him a story and sit with him while he settles? You’ve done well to get to 7 and not have it before. Do you not have some nights yourself where you just can’t drop off despite being tired? Pretty common in my family. Although of course it could be something else like he’s coming down with something.
Hope DS falls asleep soon.

It is the end of term, a lot of different stuff going on at school and he is probably a bit burned out and overwhelmed. What about an evening walk before bed (depending on where you live). Audio book is also good idea.

I do normally just tuck him in and he goes to sleep. Today, I've read him a story and thought I'd sit with him and noticed that he's just getting frustrated. He's not had any chocolate or sugary drink today, if I think about it...

The more stressed he gets, the more he will struggle. And Sunday nights are often hard if out of routine.

Let him read for 10.minutes then "reset" - for us that is toilet, fluff pillows, fluff duvet and get back into bed. If that's hard, try some.music or white sounds (we like rain on alexa).

Let him stay up a bit if he's not ready to go to sleep? That's what an older person would probably do.

Just leave him reading or listening to an audio book and don’t make a big deal about it .

Bring him downstairs with his blanket and let him lie on the sofa and watch tv with you - he will be asleep in no time.
from
experience, he’s either worried or over excited.
light nights don’t help either x

He could be coming down with something and doesn’t feel quite right.

My 7 year old periodically goes through phases of this. Tends to coincide with a dip in general behavior and lots of “big feelings.”

Its always at times of transition (end of school year, going back to school etc). He’s also dyslexic and absolutely exhausted by the demands of keeping up with his class (his school are fantastic, he’s well supported, it’s just harder for him), and I definitely think this is part of it at this point in the year.

Top tips from me would be

1. Don’t stress him or yourself out about sleeping. We always say “Sleep is lovely but rest is the important thing. Don’t force sleep, enjoy this time to rest.” For my DS “rest” includes lying in bed listening quietly to a sleep podcast, or white noise, or quietly drawing in his notebook.
2. Don’t get into a habit of staying with him until he’s asleep (been there. Did that. Took me 2 years to break the habit). Also if he’s having trouble sleeping, chances are his early sleep phase will be light, and you’ll wake him up when you leave his room.
3. A banana and a glass of warm milk half an hour before bed are great dietary sleep aids for kids.

So I've just told him to close his eyes and imagine the ocean and the sounds it makes while I was running my fingers through his hair....

As soon as you know it, he was on cloud nine!!!!!

I was thinking maybe he's trying too hard to go to sleep 😂 and then I was thinking maybe he's thinking about something and it's bothering him.

Thanks everyone, for your great tips!!

I need to try rain on Alexa... I didn't even know it was a thing!!!