5 yr old not sleeping well

[jocie]

hi, i have a 5 yr old who despite going to bed at 7ish does'nt go to sleep til 8.30/9. He then gets up bout 6.30/7am. He is definately tired as he gets very grumpy by the afternoon. Usually he did this and then had a few nights where he would go to sleep sooner but recently he just won't go to sleep sooner. He's got blackout blinds that although let a sliver of light in its not much.
Anyone got any suggestions or thoughts on how i can improve the situation as his behaviour really goes downhill in the afternoon and i don't want to be constantly getting annoyed with him. He has a drink and a snack as soon as he comes out of school so its not hunger.

Is this a new/recent thing or has he always been difficult settling at night? Also, has he always gone to bed at 7 and woken around 6.30?

My almost 5 yr old seems to have the same routine as yours.

Last night he was still awake, chatting to himself and bouncing around at 9:30 ish when I was going to bed. Argh!

We've are going to do baths and stories a little earlier so that he can wind down for even longer. Also, we used to do a thing where he would 'shake his sillies out' - dance, jump around, tire himself out.

I'm wondering if he's not physically tired enough. I wish I could make him exercise more but I have ds2, but am trying to think of something - just running on the garden.

Good luck, I'll be watching this thread.

thanks for the replies,
BssBosh - yes he's always gone to bed at 7 from when he was a baby, he used to settle earlier so be asleep by 8. He does lie there usually very quietly, he reads to himself for a while and then we go and tell him to put the book down and go to sleep(about7.30/45) which he does although it then usually takes him till at the earlieat 8.30 to actually fall asleep. I tried lying with him which worked the first night but hasn't wotked sinse and i don't really want to get in the habit of doing that as he's never needed us to do that and has always been quite good at settling himself. He shares a bedroom with his 2.5 yr old brother who goes to bed just before him so i can't really put him down earlier as he will realize he's going to bed before his liitle brother!!

WowOoo - I wondered about physical tiredness aswell but he always goes out into the garden after school for about 30 mins/hour when his dad gets home and plays football or something.

If he didn't get so grumpy late afternoon i wouldn't be too worried as he does usually lie there quite quietly until he falls to sleep so at least he's getting some rest.