Can anyone suggest ways I can help my dd aged 5 to go off to sleep at night?

[McDreamy]

She used to be a fantastic sleeper as a baby but recently she is finding it hard to switch off and go to sleep. Tonight she has got really upset about it. I have tried wind down time before bed, we do stories anyway, gentle music.....but I'm running out of ideas.

Her dad is a terrible sleeper!! Is insomnia genetic?

She is STILL awake!!! It's 9pm, arrggghh! Not so much of a problem because it's Saturday tomorrow but on a school night it's a problem.

Have you tried leaving her with a story tape or letting her read on her own until she drops off? Also, maybe some gentle exercise in the evening would help, yoga or something, to help clear her mind?

there are some visualisation tapes / books you can get to help children relax and sleep I think

is there anything before bedtime that could be winding her up too much? eg drinks with caffeine / sugar in, tv or computer time?

does she have a bath before bed? that can help some children

oh a milky drink also

I wish I could help but I have the same problem with my dd's (age 5 and 6). They are well exercised , have a bath, milk drink, a story read to them and then have 1/2 hr or so to read to themselves/listen to a story tape. They also have warm bean-bags if they request it and magic sleeping potion (lavender oil). None of it bl**dy works lol! They tend to be in bed at 7-7.30, and usually still awake at 9am. They tend to sleep till 7am.

I wouldn't mind so much if they didn't look so tired, but they have big red bags under their eyes. Hwr, this has been the same for about 2 yrs now, so I have just accepted it now. IMO, they could definitely do with an extra hr each a night, but as I and my siblings tend to have problems getting to sleep, I am assuming it is an inherited thing...

Frustrating when we stay with friend and we do the same things all day and their dc's collapse asleep at 7pm and mine are still telling me they can't switch their brains off .

Yes she has a warm milky drink and a bath. Have thought about using lavender oil, maybe in the bath?

I would be interested in finding out more about the visualisation tapes Franny.

She does watch some tv before bed but it's usually something like In the Night Garden (she has a 2 year old brother who falls straight to sleep).

I don't mean the content of the tv will disturb her but IMO the actual medium of tv can in some cases make you quite wired

we don't have a tv and I notice if I do watch tv now in the evening I feel 'buzzy' when I go to bed and sometimes be unable to sleep

I will see if I can find the visualisation thingies

I think lavender oil a v good idea - you can get a 'banish nasty thoughts' type aroma therapy spray which might help her psychologically also - she could spray it herself before bed

plus maybe some massage if she likes it? just on hands and feet even

I think it is fab you are noticing this and trying to help her - I always had problems sleeping as a child but no-one ever took it seriously

here is a visualisation story about sleep and relaxing - click on the author's name for some other, similar titles

I have not tried these but a friend said they were good

here are massage oils and bath oils for children

I will bear that in mind Franny, maybe we should stop watching TV in the evening. Thanks for that advice. Something is making her buzz.

I have just found some meditation buy Christiane Kerr, I can download it from itunes. I might give that a go, I think she would like it. I will also try a massage, she loves things like that.

I used to hate it when I couldn't sleep as a child, my mum used to get so cross with me, but if you're not sleepy it's really hard to relax. I am finding I am getting cross with her which I don't want to do, I don't want to be my mum, so I decided tonight to put that energy into helping her. Thanks for your advice, it's always welcome

I am currently reading through a couple of your book recommendations.

Thanks for the links. The cd link is also on itunes, I think I will make her a cd tomorrow!

oh and one more:

magic fairy spray

I hope things improve
she's lucky to have someone to help her

I have just ordered some oils from that link, a sleepytime one and one for sore tummies. I used to have a bottle of the Fairy Mist. I will have to look and see if I still have it, I think I might have left in our house in the UK. Thank you once again, I now have some new strategies to try

Thanks for the vote of confidence too , you try your hardest with them don't you? Want to do what's best but sometimes I run out of ideas! I'm glad I found mumsnet, there are some wonderful mums out there with great advice

yes I agree MN fabulous for brainstorming ideas or just to reaffirm what you are doing

or sometimes to wind you up something chronic but we will gloss over that