Calming down ADHD child for bed

[InsolentAnnie]

6yo, bags and bags of energy. Spends a lot of time on the trampoline during the day. Loves stories and always gets one at bedtime, but just can’t seem to calm down. He turns somersaults while I’m reading to him 🤦‍♀️ Sometimes he goes to sleep straight away but we often have to go in frequently and turn the light off again / remove Lego / remove books / remove paper and pens etc, even if he’s snuggled down when we leave him. Trying to avoid his room ending up being a blank box… He’s not interested in cuddly toys so I’m looking for something else to calm him down. Was looking at a CalmCarry but they’re expensive and don’t want to fork out for something that won’t work! Any ideas gratefully received…

Have you tried a nesti?

Or a yoto player?

The only thing that ever worked for me was taking DS to do a lot of physical exercise which consultant told me to do. Trampolining, swimming 100 lengths, running a couple of miles, playing football, as he got older exercise at the gym about 3 hours before bed.

The only thing that worked for us was melatonin.

No, I hadn’t heard of them. Just had a search and they look great, but he prefers no clothes to any clothes - not sure how he’d react to a restrictive thing

We have a playroom fortunately, so keep our 5 year old’s bedroom bare of toys. He does have his teddies, a bookshelf of books, a lamp, a torch, and his Yoto player in his room. He goes to bed at 7, but if he’s up until 7:30/8 before falling asleep we don’t mind. He looks through his books with his torch or listens to Yoto cards (the volume is limited after 7pm). We hear him shuffling about but just leave him to it. Any mucking about would result in loss of Yoto player which he’d hate.

I think if your son is faffing about with Lego and pens and paper then he really does need his room stripped bare to calm things down. Our child’s room is still very cosy, not clinical.

Above all, exercise is definitely key. Swimming is always good- we often do a swim 4-5:30, shower there so skip the bath at home, home for dinner and bed.