My 11yr old DS is struggling to get to sleep.

[Amberdiamond]

For the last 6 months or so my DS has found it increasingly difficult to get to sleep. We've tried everything we can think of to help him and we are all now at our wits end. He is very active during the day, has no screens in his room and limited screen time through the day. He says that he has nothing on his mind and loves school. He reads before bed and has my iPod playing chill out classical music when he asks for it. We live in a village on the edge of a forest so his room is dark and quiet. I'm reluctant to see the doctor as I'd rather avoid medication. At half 11 last night he was in tears as he just couldn't sleep. Does anyone have any advice please?

I remember suffering from this at the same age. It was the first year of secondary school and my family and I (I was one of 6) were living in temporary accommodation while our council house was being modernised. I couldn't get to sleep before 1am most nights and used to get so annoyed and panicked, especially when I had fast asleep siblings around me! For me it just got better with time, took about a year I think. At that point we had moved back to our usual house so maybe that helped me settle. I also read somewhere that warm milk helps sleep so I introduced my own routine of half a cup of warm milk half an hour before bed and that really helped. It was part the routine and part placebo I think!

My DD suffered from this and we tried Rescue Remedy from a health food shop. If I remember correctly you put a couple of drops into a glass of water before bed. I think it helped her psychologically more than anything. Rescue night I think it was ️x called.

Thanks for the advice, I'll give them a try xx

I've never been a great sleeper and struggled to fall asleep as a child. Does he have a clock in his room? Clock watching makes it worse I think, the panic increases the later it is and it gets harder and harder to sleep. I also just used to make up stories in my head. It meant less worrying about sleeping and I'd eventually drop off. i suppose it's kind of the counting sheep idea.

What about his screen time?
Did he get new gadget 6 months ago by any chance?

My DD is exactly the same, I could have written this myself!!
We are getting desperate!!
Last night we tried lavender and warm milk, she dropped off about 11, the earliest in ages.
I've tried a hypno app, sleep oil stuff,
Warm bath, a strict bedtime routine, new bed, new bedding, nothing has worked! If you find anything please let me know! Good luck!

My DS1 age 10 is like this too. I let him "read himself to sleep" as I find he then gets to sleep earlier than if I insist on putting the book down and turning off the light.

Does he drink any drink with caffeine or stimulant ? What about sugar intake ?

Does he do any actual exercise (not just being active) ? My son slept way better after he took up running.

DD has audio books to help her get to sleep - the same ones night after night after night. It works well although it causes problems when she has to share a room on school trips etc. I used to listen to the Radio 4 Lord of the Rings adaptations to help myself sleep at that age.

chamomile tea?

If you went to the doctors they would be unlikely to prescribe sleeping tablets, but they may offer a short course of melatonin which is non addictive and harmless

Thankful I sympathise it's awful, you feel for them and when nothing works it's horrible. I encourage him to read himself to sleep as this is what I do myself, BestChocolate audiobooks were the next thing I was thinking of trying, will def try now.
It is proper exercise he does, over the course of a week he does athletics (in school and at the athletics club), football, karate, swimming and Scouts. Thanks for the advice everyone xx