Can't get my son to sleep

hi all.  My son isn't diagnosed, we are half way through the process but he really dips into anxiety when there's change happenning and it's worst at bedtime.  So right now, with school about to start again (he's 9) he just cannot get to sleep, it took 2 hours tonight. I have to sit with him every night until he's asleep.  And then he's wakeful in the night and often gets in bed with me.  he wakes early in the morning too, sometimes dashing off to start at one of his 'hobbies' - TV, list writing, cutting paper - at a really early hour.

I try so hard to have a routine, he has a lavender bath, he's got a lava lamp to watch to calm him.....

but he can't cope on a 10pm bedtime, he then has a really bad time at school, although they are very understanding, and his behaviour at home becomes more erratic and difficult to manage.

Anyone got any answers?  Do I just keep him up?  Let him sleep in my bed? is it time to go to the GP? 

Parents
  • If there are ever specific anxieties keeping him awake then a 'worry book' next to the bed can sometimes also be useful.  Just somewhere he can jot down things he might be trying to remember or need to ask about so he can deal with them in the morning.  It can sometimes help me to postpone worrying or ruminating on something if I know I have scheduled a time to deal with it later that I won't forget.

Reply
  • If there are ever specific anxieties keeping him awake then a 'worry book' next to the bed can sometimes also be useful.  Just somewhere he can jot down things he might be trying to remember or need to ask about so he can deal with them in the morning.  It can sometimes help me to postpone worrying or ruminating on something if I know I have scheduled a time to deal with it later that I won't forget.

Children
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