High energy 5yo and light nights/mornings - how to get them to rest?

[Careeringallovertheplace]

Got a duracell bunny of a 5yr old struggling to sleep with the lighter evenings and mornings. Fatigue only evident in kind of "off" behaviour (tripping over, worse than usual listening skills), but conscious that she's now been consistently getting a few hours less sleep than she should be for most nights for the past few weeks.

She has a blackout blind but it's not amazing as light creeps in at the sides.

Any tips for helping them catch up on sleep? Are others in the same boat?

Get a better blackout solution. Eg the one with the suckers that stick to the window, or the stuff that clings to the window like paper. You almost certainly need two layers - so like a window level covering then curtains over.

all these solutions have the unfortunate side effect of you ending up keeping your kids room permanently dark in the daytime for a bit in my experience. But hey, sleep comes first (and mine always played downstairs anyway!)

Easyblackoutblinds - off amazon or their own website. Simple and brilliant IMO, I tried others first but these are best. Only downside is you may need stronger velcro than the strips they sell (try command strips)

And they can be rolled up during the day, they sell little magnetic loops to hold the roll up in place.

Get floor length blackout curtains too

We have the stick on ones, blackout blinds and blackout curtains - light still gets in but it’s the best we can do

we also have a gro clock, you set bedtime and daytime and it colour codes them to help them understand it’s time for sleep despite the lighter evening

Spray some water on the inside of your windows and stick up some tin foil. Works like a dream!