12yo anxious about not being able to sleep

[LJAM1]

Help. 12yo DS has phases of anxiety - in past it’s been about how he looks mostly, but recently his focus has turned to sleep. He suddenly finds it hard to fall asleep and then if he wakes in night, he gets super anxious about getting back to sleep. Have tried everything I can think of - reassurance, distraction, worry journal… he doesn’t use electronic devices for a couple of hours before bedtime, he goes to bed at similar time each eve, he has good bedtime routine, his room is comfortable and dark etc. Wondering whether it’s time for him to see therapist about his anxiety but a bit scared to start that. Advice appreciated. V tired and too old for repeated sleepless nights.

Poor lad. They've had a rough couple of years haven't they, I'm not surprised he's struggling if he's started High School during a Pandemic.

Do you think that upping his exercise might help, so doing things like the C25K together or getting him into a sport or just helping in the garden.

Has he tried a bath before bed or a stroll with you? The change in temperature can often trigger sleep.

Also, it might be worth reading up on a couple of articles on normal sleep. People in many cultures wake for a time during the night and it was common here too until around 100 years ago.

Expecting to sleep for 8 hours straight is such a new expectation and simply doesn't suit many people.

Tell him that in a week or two, it won't matter because he'll be on summer holiday, and then he can sleep whenever he feels like it. He'll have total freedom to snooze in the sun and just relax,

My ds (13) will spend half his first week reading on my sun lounger.

My dd used to have trouble dropping off - as soon as the light went out her brain would wake up!

We brought her a small white noise machine and she used it to give her something to focus her mind on and it did help. She rarely has to use it now but if she's worried about anything then she'll use it for a few nights.