Officially losing it- kids won’t sleep

amother

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 11:13 am

amother Pumpkin wrote:

No sage advice, just commiseration.

My 4 year old is like this.
And my husband comes home super late. No help there.

Story tapes are great but they work about half the time. Sometimes he'll still be awake after the story.

Thanks! Atleast I know I’m not missing something

amother

DarkYellow

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 11:21 am

This thread does make me feel normal. My kids are 3 and 4 nd even when they are ssoo exhausted they make issues and keep coming out of bed. It makes me crazy. At that point, I am so exhausted from the whole day at work, that I have zero patience and end up using melotonin most nights. Very small dose.

amother

Crimson

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 12:01 pm

I also have a 5&3 y olds. They both are in bed by 7:30/8 and fall asleep within minutes. I stay with them and sing songs, massage their feet with lotion, or pat their backs until they fall asleep.
My 5 year old only needs 10 hours of sleep, she’s usually up by 5:30/6. My 3 y old sleeps a full 12 hours so he wakes up much later than my 5 year old, sometimes even 8:30.

amother

Rainbow

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 12:42 pm

amother Salmon wrote:

How would Epson salts help?

Empsom salt is magnesium. Magnesium helps sleep and is absorbed well through the skin.

Not the most powerful thing out there but it's cheap and quick and doesn't involve a power struggle, so probably worth a shot.

amother

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 7:40 pm

I have such mixed feelings about melatonin. Scared in the long term they won’t be able to fall asleep/ it will be even worse.

amother

Mintgreen

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 7:46 pm

amother OP wrote:

I have such mixed feelings about melatonin. Scared in the long term they won’t be able to fall asleep/ it will be even worse.

I posted upthread about other supplements you can try if you want to avoid melatonin. Ndf sleepy from bioray is herbal, magnesium is really powerful for calming the nervous system, there's also gaba, l theanine and 5htp whicg are very calming and promote sleep.

Lemon balm is another herb you can try. Also tart cherry juice, it's a natural food source of melatonin

bestwife4

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 9:26 pm

Omg I'm with you. My son is 7 and it's currently 9:25 pm and he's still twisting and turning in bed. It's very hard. I never have time without him Around. I massage, scratch him, music, etc I'm with you💗

Sebastian

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 9:27 pm

Op I had the same issue. Kids would sleep by 9 or 10 and I would be drained.I staggered the bed times and now things are much better.
Younger one goes at 7 or 7 30 and older one an hour later. They were keeping each other up.

WhatFor

Wed, Dec 06 2023, 10:55 pm

A while back someone gifted me the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It's written by a doctor who founded a sleep clinic at a children's hospital in Chicago. The one thing I took away is that most often when kids have problems going to sleep it's actually due to overtired. He spends pages talking about how he encouraged a parent to try bedtime an hour early or more and after a week or so the kids were sleeping much better.

Trust your intuition that your kids don't seem like it's a "too much sleep" issue. Maybe for a couple of weeks, try starting bedtime earlier, and see how that works?

He does acknowledge that this can be challenging for many people, especially if you want them to wait for their father to come home, or for whatever reason, but if this could actually solve your sleep issues, it might be worthwhile in the big picture?

amother

Coral

Thu, Dec 07 2023, 1:07 am

My doctor recommended melatonin every night for a kid like this.

Also how about sleep stories instead of marvelous middos machine? Calm kids. (But not everything on the calm app is kosher)

amother

Thu, Dec 07 2023, 5:31 am

amother Coral wrote:

My doctor recommended melatonin every night for a kid like this.

Also how about sleep stories instead of marvelous middos machine? Calm kids. (But not everything on the calm app is kosher)

It’s not an easy fix. They wake up with night frights on the nights I give melatonin…

I think I need to work on accepting this more and also try to stagger their bedtime. Even though it pushes the other ones bedtimes very late.

I ca try earlier but I’ll be shocked if it works- when I’ve given mello earlier than 7:30 I ended up with a terrible hyper but tired combo.

amother

Alyssum

Thu, Dec 07 2023, 9:56 am

amother OP wrote:

You can also try Sit Still Like a Frog, has a cd and book with calming exercise for kids. Helps our ADHD kid wind down before sleep.

Deep Blue

Wed, Dec 13 2023, 4:17 pm

Me too and I have a two year old as well that adds to the torture.(sleeps in bed not crib).
Oldest is so tired he falls asleep in the car on the way home and that really doesnt help. I talk to him the whole way so he doesnt fall asleep and then go in to pick up the other kids and poof he's asleep. Any advice on that?

amother

Wed, Dec 13 2023, 9:06 pm

Bumping this up because tried melatonin for a week and it didn’t work.

Tried 7pm and they were up between 9-11 and then stayed up all night.

Me and my kids are really suffering.

amother

Daylily

Wed, Dec 13 2023, 9:15 pm

Shut all the lights in the house
They can’t leave their room or big consequence.
Leave a water bottle in their room if they get thirsty.
That’s it

amother

Honeydew

Wed, Dec 13 2023, 9:25 pm

amother Daylily wrote:

Shut all the lights in the house
They can’t leave their room or big consequence.
Leave a water bottle in their room if they get thirsty.
That’s it

Have you tried a night light?

amother

Peachpuff

Wed, Dec 13 2023, 9:26 pm

Deep Blue wrote:

Oldest is so tired he falls asleep in the car on the way home and that really doesnt help. I talk to him the whole way so he doesnt fall asleep and then go in to pick up the other kids and poof he's asleep. Any advice on that?

I had this as well and that small nap would mess up the whole night since ds wouldn't go to sleep till very late ... Even if he just napped a few minutes. Im not for electronics at all, but I got him a leapster with some games and let him play just on the way home. Never had a problem with him falling asleep after that (unless he had a late night the night before or something)

amother

Wed, Dec 13 2023, 9:29 pm

amother Daylily wrote:

Shut all the lights in the house
They can’t leave their room or big consequence.
Leave a water bottle in their room if they get thirsty.
That’s it

Consequences don’t work with the 3 year old. She just laughs and is in a total overtired trance.

amother

DarkOrange

Wed, Dec 13 2023, 11:14 pm

amother Mintgreen wrote:

Is the ndf sleepy kosher?