5 Year old with sleeping problems - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

JohnnyO · 09-23-2009, 10:44 AM

I know there are a lot of parents on this board. So I am looking for some advice and suggestions with a problem with our 5 year old.

My daughter is having trouble sleeping and it is driving us insane. I have to control the Hulk inside when I am awoken several times through the night. It is wearing both myself and my wife down as it has been going on for 2 months or so.

I can understand why she is having trouble sleeping as she has just started ECS, catching the school bus, making new friends etc.

What I don't know is what to do to help her sleep. We have 1 hour of delays from bedtime being declared 8.30pm to when she falls asleep, followed by several times of her waking up every few hours. We have been talking to her to find out whats wrong, but nothing seems out of place really. She is a healthy super kid otherwise.

Any advice, tips would be greatly appreciated.

The Yen Man · 09-23-2009, 10:49 AM

A shot of JD perhaps?

I kid I kid. I'm not a parent, so I don't have any advice for you. But I definitely feel for you. Sleep is one of the most underrated things out there IMO.

Madman · 09-23-2009, 10:55 AM

Does she have a night light in her room?

My 4.5 year old son will wake up almost right away if his night light is turned off.

JBR · 09-23-2009, 10:56 AM

I can see how a dyslexic CP member can be alarmed by the thread title.

JohnnyO · 09-23-2009, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madman

Does she have a night light in her room?

My 4.5 year old son will wake up almost right away if his night light is turned off.

Yes she does and she too will wake up if it goes off.

To the poster about the JD comment. We have been tempted. I kid, I kid!!

bigtmac19 · 09-23-2009, 11:05 AM

What's her bedtime routine?
Does she tend to be a more high strung child or no?

AvsJerk · 09-23-2009, 11:08 AM

How about telling her that there are monsters under the bed, and if she gets out of bed at night they will grab her legs...that should do the trick.

HOZ · 09-23-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyO

I know there are a lot of parents on this board. So I am looking for some advice and suggestions with a problem with our 5 year old.

My daughter is having trouble sleeping and it is driving us insane. I have to control the Hulk inside when I am awoken several times through the night. It is wearing both myself and my wife down as it has been going on for 2 months or so.

I can understand why she is having trouble sleeping as she has just started ECS, catching the school bus, making new friends etc.

What I don't know is what to do to help her sleep. We have 1 hour of delays from bedtime being declared 8.30pm to when she falls asleep, followed by several times of her waking up every few hours. We have been talking to her to find out whats wrong, but nothing seems out of place really. She is a healthy super kid otherwise.

Any advice, tips would be greatly appreciated.

This sounds like a classic problem with stress. Catching the bus/ making new friends is incredibly stressful for children. Some start to pee the bed and all sorts of things. Yours doesn't sleep, which will add to the stress.

1. Stay calm and talk to her. Ask her what it is that is waking her up
2. Talk to her teachers
3. Talk to a doctor. Mild sedatives may help.
4. Drink JD.

Gozer · 09-23-2009, 11:18 AM

Make her run stairs for a few hours every night so she's exhausted.

JohnnyO · 09-23-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gozer

Make her run stairs for a few hours every night so she's exhausted.

We have taken her swimming and made her ride her bike a ton before bed, it doesn't work. LOL!!

Sample00 · 09-23-2009, 11:20 AM

You may want to consider to have a look at her breathing.

My son, when he was younger had problems breathing at night, thus waking up every few hours.

We ended up putting him on some steroids and asthma medication. It cleared up and hasn't been an issue since then.

just my two cents/

Ford Prefect · 09-23-2009, 11:24 AM

We went through sleeping problems with our son. For the most part it's just the way he is ... he has always been a poor sleeper right from when he was born until now. He's now almost 16.

The only thing we found that made a bit of a difference was to make sure he's not too hot in bed. He runs pretty hot to start with, and if we overdid the bedding or night clothes he'd overheat and that just made the problem worse.

LChoy · 09-23-2009, 11:24 AM

What's her pre-bed time routine like?
Some kids need a wind down period before bed time, otherwise they have too much energy to just sleep right away.

Bertuzzied · 09-23-2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sample00

We ended up putting him on some steroids and asthma medication. It cleared up and hasn't been an issue since then.

Not only that, you got yourself a MLB player!

socktape · 09-23-2009, 11:26 AM

Our son is sort of in the same situation as your daughter.... starting ECS, bus, etc.
He isn't having the same issue sleeping as your daughter but getting to sleep is the same. Bed time at 8 and not going to sleep until 8:30 but closer to 9pm.

Does she get out of bed and come into your room or just call for you guys? Has this happened before? How long has it been going on for?

JohnnyO · 09-23-2009, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

What's her bedtime routine?
Does she tend to be a more high strung child or no?

See is more dramatic then your average kid I suppose. A real girly girl. Complete opposite of her younger sister.

The routine almsot every night is, play time (outside if nice out), come in and have a bath, light snack, maybe 1- 30min TV show, brush teeth, story with mom or dad. To bed between 8.30-9. We try to keep a routine.

I am hoping she will just grow out of it but it is ubber frustrating right now.

bigtmac19 · 09-23-2009, 11:31 AM

Bike riding and swimming close to bed time will probably backfire though, too much stimulation. I always found the laying in bed reading a book routine worked pretty well to get my boys relaxed. It does seem however that something is stressing her out a little bit, first the anticipation of all the new stuff and now that she is in it, just getting used to everything going on in her day. I definitely had things like that crop up with one of my boys more than the other, he was more of a high-stress kid and had periods of not sleeping well during times of change in his life.

ernie · 09-23-2009, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madman

Does she have a night light in her room?

My 4.5 year old son will wake up almost right away if his night light is turned off.

Our 3 year old daughter is the opposite. She needs her room dark or she can't sleep. In fact we need to put foil on her windows so she can nap. She has been that way since 9 or so months old.

We tried a night light because she is waking up to go to the toilet and with a dark room she sometime gets disoreinted. She simply couldn't sleep with it, so we traded the 4 or 5 wake ups she has with a night light for the 1 she has to go to the toilet.

JohnnyO · 09-23-2009, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by socktape

Our son is sort of in the same situation as your daughter.... starting ECS, bus, etc.
He isn't having the same issue sleeping as your daughter but getting to sleep is the same. Bed time at 8 and not going to sleep until 8:30 but closer to 9pm.

Does she get out of bed and come into your room or just call for you guys? Has this happened before? How long has it been going on for?

Both, she will call out and also try to sneak into bed which we don't allow. The problem is when she is too loud she may also wake up her younger sister then it becomes a 3 ring circus in the middle of the night. She goes through phase where she will sleep on her own and through the night for months at a time. She has never been a fantastic sleeper.

bigtmac19 · 09-23-2009, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyO

See is more dramatic then your average kid I suppose. A real girly girl. Complete opposite of her younger sister.

The routine almsot every night is, play time (outside if nice out), come in and have a bath, light snack, maybe 1- 30min TV show, brush teeth, story with mom or dad. To bed between 8.30-9. We try to keep a routine.

I am hoping she will just grow out of it but it is ubber frustrating right now.

That sounds like pretty normal nighttime routine to me, I'm sure it's just a product of what's going on in her life and that this too shall pass, maybe just as you mentioned if she is a little more dramatic, it just may take her slightly longer to settle in to things.

I feel for you though, it's certainly difficult for all of you.