Looking for advice. Right now my pregnancy is taking alot of my energy out of me. Im done for the day by 8-9 but stay up fighting sleep to get my 5 year old to sleep. Twice now Ive fallen asleep before him and woke up to him playing on my phone. Mostly youtube videos is what he watches but my problem with this is hes not sleeping like he should. For example this am he didnt go to sleep til I took the phone after waking up at 520am. We have church in the am and if I choose to get him up hes not even gonna have 4 hours sleep. He refuses naps and fights sleep every night. What can I do to get him to sleep better? PsThe only thing that worked before was playing really hard but because Ive been sick alot Im still recovering from the beginning of pregnancy and hes a only child for now. But hes excited for November to be here.
You can start by taking the phone away a few hours before bedtime and hide it so you don’t wake up to him playing on it. Start doing a routine before bedtime. Ours is at 7 we put our toys away. 730 is bath time and brush their teeth. 8 is story time. Then 830 is hugs and kisses and time for bed. Our 2 year old cries in her crib for about 15 minutes before settling down and going to bed. Our 5 year old has just a desk for coloring and books to read. No tv in his room. We don’t mind if he stays up to color or read some books in his room. He gets back in bed when it gets too dark to see and goes to bed.
Melitonin to get he to sleep soon work wondering in my house
Put a lock on your screen
Melatonin to help reset his clock. Give it at about 8 and put him to bed 20-30 minutes later. I only do 2 mg for my 6 year old when I need to give him some. He’s usually out about 10 mins after I make him lay down. Also a strict bed time routine will help. Even at 5.
Melatonin and take your phone and put it somewhere else where he can’t get it. And set up a bedtime routine. You are going to need a routine when baby #2 arrives.
I don’t agree with drugging a 5 year old and melatonin is a hit or miss with some children. I agree with the above post about a routine and putting your phone up. Does he sleep with you or in his own bed/room? That may make a difference too. Is he afraid of the dark, scary monsters…etc? I’ve seen some.children develop these fears as they grow, that is why I ask. Ultimately tho, setting a routine and schedule would be best for him esp since if he isn’t already school starts soon. Find rewards or reinforcers for him when he does lay nicely in bed or quietlyin bed or sleeps. My daughter is 2.5 and she is on a routine, but some nights (she sleeps with me) she’ll read a book or want to sing songs. You could try maybe lying with him for a bit and see if that helps. It helped my older boys when they were younger. Maybe the foods he eats? We cut back a lot of sugary foods for my oldest (he has adhd) and it helped a lot. Only natural sugars now before bedtime/dinner time. Good luck!
I’ve used melatonin on all of my kids. It’s not an actual drug. It actually is a natural occurring hormone in the body. He may not produce enough himself so I would give it a try. Start with the lower dosage. If that doesnt work yet upping it. But as always talk to your child dr or pharmacist before giving any type of “medication”
Melatonin & hide ur phone…or at least dim the screen all the way down
The use of melatonin in young children had a study done on it that showed if you use it in your child your putting them at risk of having sleep issues when adults. Our counselor had us start a very strict routine. Lay down time is 8 that can be with a phone or TV time if not asleep by 9 everything goes. TV off. Phone taken. It took a week to get in that routine but once electronics was taken we seen a massive difference in the kids! I’ve also cut screen time down to only 1 or 2 hours a day cause it’s easy for them to become addicted. Ecpsecially late at night I noticed my kids literally wouldnt go to sleep the entire night just to play on them
Counselors told my daughter to give her kids melatonin. It really works and it is not harmful
Melatonin and use lavender essential oils! Start a calming routine with no electronics or stimulation early in the evening. Maybe make it reading time for the last 30 to 45 minutes of the night.
Take him to a park and he can play by himself or with other kids while you sit. Change your password on your phone so he doesn’t know it and tell him he’s not allowed on it. He should be going to bed around 8-9 also.
Melatonin for daily use is not recommended, as there isnt enough information on long term use. While a child is sick, or for a specific reason, and the Dr says it’s fine, ok, but using it daily is not considered safe. Try other methods
Wake him up with only 4 hrs sleep. Run him hard. And hell sleep tonight trust me
Melatonin worked wonders for my son
No naps at 5 wake up at 7 and bed by 8
Melatonin. My son is 6 years old and has always been a terrible sleeper and he has ADHD. He takes Melatonin and I put CBD lotion on his feet. He falls asleep within the hour and sleeps through the night. My son would fight his sleep too. He would turn his TV on after every one else went to bed and he would stay up until 3/4am and then I had to wake him at 7am for school.
It can be difficult establishing bed time or rather sleep time, and even when it is established, a night sick or teething or off routine for any reason can so easily jeopardise it. Starting when they are babies is best way to go to get a bit of down time for yourself. All screens and gadgets away, tidy up the toys and have bath, bath can make them tired. Put clothes in laundry basket and lay out tomorrows clothes…I mean child doing this with your help getting a lot of praise. Then into bed or on armchair read story say prayers if he do this, ask blessings for everyone, then hugs,kisses and good night. You might have a few weeks of working on this as he may come back down, but you must be firm, back to bed, promise an activity tomorrow that he likes, a nature walk or whatever works for ye, then back down again tell him he won’t be allowed to have/ do something he likes tomorrow or at wk end or whatever if he comes down again. Consistency will pay off. Don’t get frustrated yourself, I understand you are tired at the moment, but think ahead to when you have a new baby as well. It would be wonderful if you had him sorted by then. In a few months start getting baby into routine too inc bath feed and down to bed. Hopefully baby will start doing the night quickly enough, some do, some don’t. Best of luck to you and Congratulations
Please do not give a child that young melatonin. There are plenty of other things you can try. Chamomile tea is always nice, it relaxes. Anything lavender as well. My daughter was the same way, still is sometimes randomly and she’s 8. Playing hard always helped, but we cant do that much with no yard, and no where else for her to go play most of the time. I take away all of her electronics about an hour or 2 before it’s bedtime, and tell her it’s time to calm down for the evening. That is what has helped the most .
No screens before bed…tv, tablet or phone…
How late does he sleep in the morning?
Get up early… dinner, maybe a walk or play time, bath, reading for quiet time then bed…I found routine works wonders
Low dose melatonin will not hurt him. Our bodies naturally produce it, his may not be producing enough of it.
And I’m really confused as to why people are giving the angry face at the comments stating to keep the phone from him. It is obviously keeping him too entertained for him to fall asleep, and there are so many inappropriate things on YouTube, he shouldn’t be watching it unsupervised.
Don’t let him sleep all a day, wake his little butt up at 8 am and make him tough it out
Talk to your doctor…
Stop the screen time during the day it more or less he isn’t burning off enough energy !! Don’t give anything to help him sleep! Make him more active during the day and my kids had all long before this stopped taking afternoon naps !! That could be part of the issue as well, early bedtime and routine are you best bet !! And I would get this together quick before the baby gets here !!
Check w your doc to make sure there’s no undercover problem.
Try melatonin. Works like a charm.
My Doctor said Melatonin is safe for children children melatonin
Girl give that child some melatonin… you only need to use it for a week or so to reset his sleep cycle.
Take him to a doctor. There could be an actual issue causing him not to be able to sleep.
Until then, throw his ass in bed and tell him ig he gets up for anything other than to use the restroom you’ll tear his butt up. There is no excuse for him to be out of bed and on your phone at 5 am.
Tell him he is not allowed to touch your phone anymore. Screen time isn’t good for kids growing brains anyways. Tell him if he doesn’t go to sleep at bedtime he will get grounded and take his priveledges away…ie.) favorite toys, desserts, etc. No TV or technology. If you cant get out and wear him out you could always do exercise routines in the house like active games, see how many pushups and jumping Jack’s he can do, YouTube kid dance videos/YouTube kid yoga…limit screen time though because it does disrupt sleep cycles. You can go buy him some sleepy time tea at the store too. It always helps my kids go to sleep 15 mins after they fill up their bellies with a warm filling meal too.