9 year old DD can't sleep

[charly2830]

Hi, I am new to Mumsnet and at the end of my tether! My 9-year-old daughter has been having trouble getting to sleep ever since we moved to our new house in January. She's settled into her bedroom fine and loves it, spends all her spare time in there and isn't scared. But she says she can't get to sleep. She doesn't actually fall asleep til 10-11pm most nights, and has to be up at 7am for school. Her teacher has just rung me to say she is tearful and I have noticed her moods have changed, and am sure it's because she is constantly tired (as well as the usual hormonal changes). I have tried everything - earlier bedtime, later bedtime, no screens, lavender etc. She has a good bedtime routine and gets plenty of fresh air and exercise. Not sure what to do - I want my happy-go-lucky little girl back! Does anyone have any advice? Thanks!

@jessstan2 at the weekend or school hol, she tends to wake up naturally about 8:30 which leads me to believe that on a school night, she's going to sleep about an hour too late.

I know what you mean about the early riser thing though as I'm not a morning person myself and neither is she. My DH and younger DD both drop off to sleep in no time however, and are up earlier naturally.

@charly2830

Curly, that sounds EXACTLY the same situation as we have! It’s school holidays next week so I think I am going to try the laid back approach as well, but I don’t want to allow her to stay up until she feels like going to bed as that means we can never watch what we want on the TV! I am going to say she must go lay on her bed but that she can read til she is tired. Like you say, taking the pressure off might help a bit. Fingers crossed!

The only problem I see with being too laid back for the next 2 weeks is getting out of routine again, having just started to see improvements. If I let her stay up/get up late, we'll be back to square one.

We are lucky in that she's happy to potter about in her bedroom so it doesn't impact on our evening too much. We always send her up by about 8:30 regardless.

OP your DD experience is just like my own. Her teacher recommended I purchased a weighted blanket. Tonight is the first time we are using it. DD feel into a deep sleep within two minutes. So far she has not stirred or tossed and turned like she usually does. Fingers cross it last all night.

Wonderful SnowballedMum. I bought my son a weighted blanket a couple of months ago, I don't know whether or not he has used it - I also purchased one for myself and haven't yet unwrapped it (blush). That is typical of both of us. However what you have said about your daughter now sleeping soundly has inspired me with new enthusiasm.

SnowballedMum, that’s great, am so glad it worked. DD gets far too warm with hers unfortunately. I went to visit my mum last night and got home at 10 to find she was fast asleep though, so am hoping the air conditioning unit helped her to be cold enough to settle a bit sooner. DH says last time he saw her was 8.45 so she prob went to sleep sometime after 9 and before 10 which isn’t too bad. Fingers crossed!

CurlyLJ, I agree on not letting the routine slide too much over the holidays. I won’t be letting her sleep in too late or we will be back at square one when school starts again.

Tryptophan
Tryptophan is an amino acid that when ingested gets turned into the neurotransmitter serotonin and then converted into the hormone melatonin. Here are some of the best foods loaded with tryptophan:
•Dairy products (milk, low-fat yogurt, cheese)
•Poultry (turkey, chicken)
•Seafood (shrimp, salmon, halibut, tuna, sardines, cod)
•Nuts and seeds (flax, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts)
•Legumes (kidney beans, lima beans, black beans split peas, chickpeas)
•Fruits (apples, bananas, peaches, avocado)
•Vegetables (spinach, broccoli, turnip greens, asparagus, onions, seaweed)
•Grains (wheat, rice, barley, corn, oats)

Melatonin
Many of the vitamins and minerals that are on this list are there because they help aid in the production of turning serotonin into melatonin. However, there are a few excellent sources of naturally occuring melatonin in foods:
•Fruits and vegetables (tart cherries, corn, asparagus, tomatoes, pomegranate, olives, grapes, broccoli, cucumber)
•Grains (rice, barley, rolled oats)
•Nuts and Seeds (walnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, mustard seeds, flaxseed)

This is my daughter too. Always has been last night was about 11:30pm.

For those saying audio books - what do you play them on? (I don't want noise keeping her brothers up or a screen for her to fiddle with....)

@Mumdiva99

This is my daughter too. Always has been last night was about 11:30pm.

For those saying audio books - what do you play them on? (I don't want noise keeping her brothers up or a screen for her to fiddle with....)

Has she got an echo or similar (Alexa) or the google version? We use that. The volume is turned very low and my DD sets a sleep timer so it's not playing all night. Her audiobooks are from audible (also Amazon) as I have an account, but there are other app services you can use too.

Thanks Curly LJ.

I have Tryptophan, I have had Melatonin. None works on me but might work on an eleven year old, plus weighted blanket (note to self: must unpack weighted blanket today).

I found the sleep stories on the calm app good when I was having sleep issues. Work very well on my kids too. It is subscription but I am sure there will be a free trial floating around. Lots of relaxation techniques on there too. I just played them on phone.

@jessstan2 Update. She slept throughout the night. I agree she was very hot and sweaty. I might purchase a blanket that can cool you down too. She awoke smiling and well rested. Very pleased. Headspace also helped.

@QueenMabby

My daughter was similar at that age. A very busy brain and she would just think and think and think! What helped her was a white noise machine. We just got one from Amazon. About £20. It has general white noise but also waves, rainforest sounds etc. It just gives her brain something else to focus on and it helps her fall asleep. She’s 12 now and still uses it every night. She’s usually out like a light within 20 minutes!

Can I ask the name / brand of the white noise machine please? I've been looking for one for my dd to try and there seem to be so many on Amazon I don't know where to start!