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Why does she keep getting up at night?



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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 8:03 am
DD is 6 years old. Her nights are worse than when I have newborns. She wakes up on average 3-4 times a night. Her room is dark, we use a white noise machine, we give melatonin to help her fall asleep. If she’s asleep, she will not wake up from noises. She does not seem to be anxious or scared. She’s a VERY energetic child during the day. This has been going on for months already and I’m losing it. Does anyone have this?
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 8:14 am
What does she say when she wakes up? Does she need to use the bathroom? Is she having weird dreams?

If her dreams are strange, try cutting down her melatonin dose. That's a sign that she's getting too much.

If she needs the bathroom, start restricting water before bedtime.

If she just plain wakes up and is bored, put a couple of books by her bed, and let her read with a night light. Tell her that she needs to rest her body, even if she's awake.

If she's hungry, make sure she has a starchy snack right before bedtime. A piece of toast or a small bowl of oatmeal will carry her through until breakfast.
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amother
Bisque


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 8:23 am
This is happening with my 3 year old!
As per the advice of many wise mamas on this website, I put a small mattress in the corner of our room for him to go to in middle of the night instead of waking us.
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Odelyah




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 9:00 am
I had this with my daughter at around that age. What grade is your daughter in school?
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 9:09 am
Thanks for the replies. I’m gonna respond to everyone here:
My daughter is in first grade. She loves school, has tons of friends, is not anxious about anything that I know of. I give her 1 ml of melatonin before bed. She is not getting up for the bathroom or because of bad dreams. She eats well before bed and has a stack of books so I don’t think she’s hungry or bored.
I specifically don’t want her sleeping on the floor in my room. She would do that every night if I let her. I also work from home and many times put in hours at night. (My computer is in my bedroom)
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 9:15 am
Maybe pinwarms
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amother
Powderblue


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 9:42 am
Having same with 8 year old. Sudden onset of 3-6 times a night including her laying with me since waking up with nightmare that her sister was kidnapped. Our nights r ruined and I’m a zombie.
Doesn’t help that I’m 8 months pregnant! I need my sleep desperately especially with the nightly bathroom breaks
Dunno what to do either.
Anon cuz spoke about in real life
Eta-she claims she’s still scared cuz of the dream even tho I tried calming and rationalizing it down. I’m thinking it might be a manifestation of other worries especially with this major change she’s expecting........she’s the baby in the family until I give birth! Cud this be another aspect? I plan to give her a special day out b4, not sure how to approach this
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amother
Magenta


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 9:46 am
So strange! Im having exactly the same issue. I'm going crazy from it. Daughter almost 6, happy, well adjusted by day, wakes up st nights, either can't sleep or nightmares, has no trouble falling asleep but after a while she wakes up.
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amother
Coffee


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 11:34 am
Insomnia and sleep disturbances can be stand-alone neurological symptoms, separate from anxiety and other emotional issues. Magnesium and methylated b vitamins throughout the day, bs not to close to bed. 5htp and or tryptophan before bed, as well as gaba and l theanine. These are all precursors to neurotransmitters essential for falling and staying asleep. Make sure the dose of melatonin is not too high, that can sometimes cause night wakings, try cutting back and see what happens. Adrenals and liver are also closely linked with good sleep so make sure those are well supported. Bioray has some nice gentle herbal liver and adrenal supports formulated for kids. Also, address diet. Gluten and dairy sensitivities, artificial dyes and flavors, glutamates, these are all excitatory and can prevent sleep. Good luck!
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candies




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 12:11 pm
I found that every time my 7 year old would wake up at night it was from pin worms. Look into it.
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amother
Wheat


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 1:14 pm
Sounds like pinworms. Good luck
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amother
Floralwhite


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 2:00 pm
Try giving 1/2 mg of melatonin instead of a full mg. It's very unlikely that she needs that much and it can cause sleep disturbances if the dose is higher than necessary. It's also a very normal age for nightmares.
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pizza4




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 3:37 pm
Cut the melatonin into 4 and give just a quarter. I tried at one point to notice if my dd was waking more when she had melatonin, (and if she was having more bad dreams) but didn't do it consistently so I'm not sure.
I would suggest to you to watch if when she doesn't get mela does she still keep waking up.
Kids could have anxiety even if it's not very obvious.
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amother
Ecru


 

Post Sun, Oct 27 2019, 3:51 pm
I don't give melatonin my 6 year old also get up recently. But usually bathroom or scary dream. She Def gets pinworms often (she sucks her thumb and tends to have her hands jn her pants in her sleep sometimes) but when it's treated she also wakes up. I pretend I'm asleep so she figures out what to do. Sometimes she ends up on the floor in my room...
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