Share your tips with other parents.
I give my son Melatonin Sunday-Thursday... I let him stay up a little later on Friday and Saturday as there is no school and he can sleep in. It works great for him
From the ages of 4 to 11, my son did "Bed Bounce" nightly...
We would snack him up, brush teeth, read a story, tuck him in and he drift off to Dreamland until 11:00 p.m until we went to bed.
Promptly at 11:15 p.m, his warm face was next to mine, saying "Cereal"... I would take him back to bed & tuck him in. At 11:45 p.m, he was in his sister's room.....take him back & tuck him in....12:05 a.m, he's woken up Dad.... take him back & tuck him in....12:50 a.m. TV is on in the living room on repeat....take him back & tuck him in..
You get the point. This went on for 7 years to various degrees. I am not in favor of prescription medications and we did try every alternative under the sun but FINALLY, our son's psychiatrist prescribed Tryptophan & Trazodone.
What a difference a good night sleep made for his demeanor, concentration, communication! Well worth it, IMHO... I know, not each person is different and should only follow their physicians and their beliefs but for us it works.
At times he will sleep through. The times he doesn't its usually due to a nightmare about something he's endured in school. We try to be careful with movies he watches, because certain things will give him nightmares too. Daddy trying to bond thought that the movie the hobbit would be fun to watch with him, he was terrified of goblins for a really, really long time. So, I had to inform him that those movies are no goes, and maybe they can work together to find a movie more fitting for our son. Even though our brain processes things that are not real a little bit better, his does not. Its hard trying to know what to shield him from and realizing that the general public will have no idea that the things they do or say, even in a joking manner will have such a profound affect. Certainly teaches us the old adage, be mindful what we say. For that issue, we showed him pictures and a video of how they put paint on their faces to make them look scary (not anything too bad) but he was astonished and said oh, is that what I was afraid of? Yup that's it, paint. But we let him know that we understand, it still doesn't completely take away the scariness of it all. We respect his wishes of anything that scares him and he doesn't wish to see.
We do 10ML of Melatonin for Jake (6yrs old) and provide 2 milk bottles in a warmer nearby on his bed so that when he wakes at 2 and 4AM he no longer waits for me to come bring him milk as he has it nearby. For the most part that works though at times he is simply ready to get up at 4 still. Also, routine is very important, we bathe him with lavender epsom salt and give him a massage each night before bed. Keep in mind if your child has had a bowel movement that day... I've noticed that makes a difference too. Hope this helps!
Strict sleep routine, ignoring the doctors advice about movies, and melatonin. No problems with sleep anymore. Its Bath, book, bed with a movie and melatonin. The movie keeps him occupied and focused on something so his body calms down and he can fall asleep. No movie means hes up till 10 or later running wild in his room. I do what works for our family and screw the "rules" lol