Hello,
I posted here a couple of weeks ago about my son (nearly 7) not sleeping and waking frequently/early. We've finally managed to be taken seriously by the school and drs and have been placed on the waiting list. I know there is a long wait for these appointments so was hoping to get any advice that could help us with his behaviour, which is probably not solely due to lack of sleep although I don't think that's helping.
He doesn't seem to grasp the concept that his behaviour is effecting others around him e.g. being extremely loud early in the morning is waking his little brother up and he needs to sleep. Are there any ways that we can get him to understand? We've given him drawing things for his room (which he enjoys doing) when he wakes but he won't do that, I've taken his tablet away because he was on it at 1am the other night but even when he had that for early morning to keep him quiet until a reasonable hour he would turn it up so loud and be noisy along with it. He doesn't have it much during the day but that idea backfired.
He's constantly needing attention and stimulation, are there any activities we can try to encourage independent safe playing?
We've tried encouraging him to play with his brother (who's 2 years younger). That just turns into constant arguing after 30 seconds and they have to be supervised which defeats the purpose of being able to get things done in the house or for my business.
It's exhausting both mentally and physically. We've tried everything we can but both children are now getting to the point where all they do is whine from morning to evening, we do things and go out they fight and are feral sometimes. I'm constantly on edge when we're out and it's just making daily life so difficult.
Do consequences work? Time out? I've tried explaining things but it's quickly forgotten and they're back to doing what they were doing.
Sorry for the long post I was trying to include everything.
If anybody has any advice I would be so grateful.