Someone assured me she would sleep by 5

[Anaffaquine123]

My five year old has always been a nightmare with sleep. She would only sleep on me as an infant, we co-slept for a while then we managed to get her to sleep in her own room.
We have to sit with her until she is sound asleep but she still wakes at least three times a night. And screams the place down until we sit with her or sleep in her room.
We have tried every form of sleep training, even had the health visitor round.
She was no help. Said, some kids just don't need much sleep and by the time she starts school she will sleep.
She started school in August and she still won't sleep. Everyone is tired. It is impacting on her life - I am thinking of stopping activities she excels in and loves because she is is exhausted and keeps getting ill.
I'm almost certain she just needs more sleep.
I've given up on help from the health visitor. My mother- in-law thinks I should just sleep with dd from 7pm to ensure she gets enough sleep. That ain't happening.
Dh and I are at our wits end. Dd looks dreadful, actually looks ill. We have had her checked over by the GP in case their is some reason that she tired. GP says she is run down and needs more rest. Bar pinning her down, I don't know how to get her to rest more.
To be honest, I'm so tired with it all, I'm pissed off with dd. Just go to fucking sleep, child!

Could try blackmail?! I expect you have tried that already though!

Cosleep again. It's the only way our 5yo sleeps through
We have a little bed for her in our room. Story and quick cuddle - she's normally asleep very quickly, then mostly sleeps through. If in her own bedroom she just keeps waking.

I know it's not for everyone, but it's the only way we all get the best sleep here.

Does she snore/cough/get lots of sore throats? Ds1 was a terrible sleeper until he was diagnosed with tonsil issues that caused his throat to close up when he lay down. His tonsillectomy changed our lives.

My best friends child coslept in the child insistence (not parental choice). She was 6 when they got her sleeping all night in her own bed.

They did it with bribery. The key is finding something within budget that the child really, really REALLY wants.

The thing they found was ears piercing. Not something I'd do at 6y but it was that thing that got her willing to do anything to be allowed. So she got them done after 20 nights in her own bed all night with no fuss.

There was fuss the first night. They called that night practice and restarted Day 1 the following day. She got her sticker in the morning every single morning for the following 20 days and from then on it was sorted.

We got our poor sleeper a CD player for his room and swapped sitting with him to audio CDs. He turns them on if he wakes in the night too and probably goes back to sleep faster than if he got worked up and I joined him in his room. He was like your DD at nearly 3 and I told him very honestly that mummies have to sleep at night otherwise they break, and big 3 year olds can listen to stories quietly in bed if they can't fall asleep. He was sad but brave and it amazingly worked. He's nearly 6 now and the sadness wore off. The CDs are a crutch but one he needs unless sharing a room with a sibling on holiday (but at home it doesn't work as he wakes them too early and they are then too tired for school - sometimes they all like to share in the school holidays as well as when away on holiday though).

My MIL told me she'd "cure" him if I let her have him overnight when he was 12 months - I did and she couldn't, he still sleeps in her bed when he stays at theirs now she bills herself as old fashioned but she's softer than she admits

I finally got my 5 and a half year old to sleep through by getting her a double bed. She was a right wriggler in bed and always turned sideways. That was okay when we co-slept but not in her single.
She slept through from the first night alone in a double bed.
Now at 14, I have the problem of getting her out of her bed, not keeping her in it

Thank you, I am glad I'm not the only one! I've tried blackmail, bribery, decorating her room, new, bigger bed.
She has developed a persistent night time cough so I will have a look in for her tonsils. Both Dh and I had ours out as kids so there might be something in that.
I am occasionally co-sleeping with her younger sister due to teething so it is a carry-on when both are in with me.
Audio books are another possibility. Thank you. I will give that a go.