Thursday, August 25, 2011

Can't Fall Asleep



Here's the scenario:

8 o'clock comes so we start our bedtime routine.  We change into jammies and a pullup, brush our teeth, say prayers and read a story.  Usually all of this takes about a half hour and my husband and I are out of Lucas' bedroom by 8:30.  We head to the living room to hang out and spend some time together before we go to bed.  However, 9 o'clock rolls around and Lucas is still awake talking to himself, no big deal.  9:30 comes and Lucas is still awake, 10:00 and he is still awake; sometimes this can go on until 11 o'clock at night or later!

This doesn't happen every night, but it happens a couple of times a week.  So, I tried to cut out his afternoon nap thinking that would help, it didn't.  We were still have two to three nights a week where he was awake very late and then he was just grumpy to boot for not getting his nap.  During the summer I wasn't too concerned with one or two nights of this happening, but now it is school time.  I don't want him staying up really late because there are at least two days a week where he won't be able to take an afternoon nap due to preschool.  However, I'm at a lost as to what to do.  I've tried several more things besides doing away with the nap and nothing has worked.

What do you do for your kids when they can't seem to fall asleep?

-Megan-

3 comments:

Tannie Datwyler said...

My kids do this sometimes too. That's interesting that cutting out the nap didn't help. When my son doesn't take his nap he falls asleep like a log at night. When he does take a nap he usually stays up until around 9:00 or 10:00 depending on the night.

I'm betting that if you add preschool into the mix he'll fall asleep faster at night. He'll be more worn out from school and then he might wind down better.

Other than that I don't really have any suggestions. I wish I could help - but I can sympathize! It will most likely pass, but if it doesn't soon you can talk to his pediatrician.

Good luck!!

Alyssa Harper said...

How early does he wake up in the mornings? You could try waking him up earlier. It'll take a couple weeks to adjust, but it may get him going to sleep a little sooner. Also, you could try some EXTREMELY active morning activities or later-evening Daddy-Son activities before you start baths and the night time routine. My boy stays up late some nights as well, but NEVER when he's had a lot of active play that day. He's out like a log within 30 minutes of putting him down for the night.

Delia said...

Owen is a crazy sleeper too. He started to do the same thing when he was Lucas' age and kept it up until he started school. I just let him talk to himself in his bed until late and he would just be tired and grumpy the next day. It wasn't fun but I couldn't make him go to sleep. He still doesn't need as much sleep as his brother does, but he knows that bedtime is at a certain time and he can lay in bed awake or fall asleep. Even still it is honestly a struggle sometimes. It's just they way he is.

One other thing that helped but didn't change what kind of sleeper he was, was making his bedtime earlier. Cutting out his nap and putting him down at 7:30 actually helped him finally fall asleep around 9 or earlier. He might need that alone time in his room to wind down for the day and when you start it earlier it could help him fall asleep earlier? Just a thought.