advise please | Imamother

deech007

Sun, Dec 11 2011, 7:52 pm

my 5.5 year old has always had a problem falling asleep I would put him at 8 he would fall asleep at 10 and he always woke up at 5 am we call him an early bird its been goingon for years but for the past feu days he wakes up at 2 am and has a hard time functioning during the day since he does not go back to sleep I dont now what to do with him anymore or who to go to for help because he gets so tired and frustrated he will hit everyone and yell at me for nothing or do things that are dangerios for himself and others

tikva18

Sun, Dec 11 2011, 11:29 pm

That must be really hard. If I were in your shoes I'd try to assess the surroundings. Does it happen every night? is there something that you've thought of that is the precursor? Does it happen on nights when he only eats x? Is there something that's worrying him? Is it only on the nights when he wears certain pajamas or has certain sheets (maybe they irritate him)? or on bath nights (maybe he's allergic to a shampoo or soap)? Did something happen to someone close to him? Has he heard fighting? Is he running around before bed (I have a no jumping on the trampoline before bed rule - lol - and when my kids were really little I had 'the no feet on the floor after pajamas rule')?

I wish you much hatzlocha - I know how hard this can be as I had a child who had The Most Difficult time sleeping and we didn't figure it out until he was 10 yrs old (allergic to wheat/gluten). Once we removed the allergen, he started being able to go to sleep and stay asleep.

tikva18

Sun, Dec 11 2011, 11:32 pm

As for a suggestion of what to do in the meantime. I would tell him the rule is we stay in bed from time X to time Y - (such as 8pm to 6:30am - or when the sun comes up - something he can understand if he doesn't tell time). I'd have quiet, relaxing music playing in his room so it could be soothing. Is he afraid of the dark? maybe a small nightlight would help... Does he want company? I understand - who would want to be alone all the time. For that I tell my children that Hashem is always with us and we have melachim watching over us - and where is Hashem? right in OUR room! and have him kiss the mezuzah. When my kids get scared at night I tell them they can say the shema as many times as they need.

HTH - and if not, please disregard Smile