what should i do with a 7 year old who won't go to sleep

[DuplicitousBitch]

i have tried lots and lots of exercise, threats, bribes, consistency non consistency. can i slip her a micky in her bed time milk?

it is not unusual for her still to be up at 11

and just to clarify, i don't normally use the word playdate!

Another one here. My youngest (8 in 2 weeks) is never asleep before 10pm, often almost midnight. He wakes through the night and then gets up at 7:30 every morning. He wet the bed 3 times last night as well. I am just resigned to it now.

My 7 yo (yup he's skinny) needs melatonin for him to go to sleep, and even then he's very often awake at stupid O'clock, but without it he's not asleep until even stupider O'clock. I don't even bother putting him to bed until 9 or 9.30 now cos he just doesn't have the sleep in him.

My 10yo dd(also skinny) tends not to go to sleep until about 11ish too.

I remember a friend of mine was always complaining about her daughter getting up ridiculously early, and I felt sorry for her, but then I discovered that she was sending her to bed at 6pm!

Lack of sleep is supposed to make you fat - in adults anyway. Not sure it is related. DS is not skinny.

Auntyfash - I have friends like that! My SIL says she wants her evening so she sends her DC to bed early. I would rather have sleep - I don't want mine getting up at 5.30am!

Riven - I can leave my DS to his own devices when he doesn't sleep. I can't imagine you can do the same with your DD? Must be so tough. Do your DSs manage to sleep or you a whole house of really tired people?

DuplicitousBitch, yes my dd is like a rake

she is a worrier and she tells me that she can't switch her brain off

the exercise thing makes no difference here

like someone up thread said, she gets lots of reading practise so that's a plus

TheFoosa, mine, too. Exact description, thin and can't switch brain off, though she is only in year 1, just starting to read. Looks at books in bed more than reading.

My neighbour's daughter is about 10 now, and my neighbour often finds the girl with a torch under her covers at midnight, drawing. She says the girl never seems tired, so maybe they don't all need as much sleep.

Sometimes my DD is hard to wake up, but sometimes she gets herself up about 8, when we all get up.

Im so glad I found this thread, my 7 yr old DD is the same. She used to be so good at sleeping, asleep by half 7, but the last month or so she has been awake til half ten or 11 at night. Once she is asleep she stays asleep but she just cant go off. She says she is scared of having bad dreams, although she never wakes up with nightmares.

She will have a lie in on the weekend but she struggles getting up ing the week and is cranky after school cos shes so tired. I might try the diary idea though, see if she cdan write about her bad dreams so they are out of her head.

Glad shes not the only one though !

I've come here tonight with a ds still bouncing around the bedroom showing no signs of going to sleep and has just woken dd. I'm at my wits end with him and although he is younger than your dc's (he's 4) he's still up bouncing around at 10pm. He's not after attention or anything, just doesn't seem tired. I've tried everything and I just seem to never find anything that works. I'm so glad to see I'm not alone, got a child who doesn't sleep, not a baby.

My dd3 had horrendous nights - couldn't get to sleep and then would wake up thinking it was morning a couple of times most nights!

Although she doesn't actually have many ticks on the assessment list I'm going to link to the problem was too much adrenalin and this treatment worked for her. Had to pay but was worth every penny!

www.inpp.org.uk/index.php