My four year old doesn't sleep!

[mabelinoad]

We don't know what to do!

My 4 1/2 year old stopped taking naps long ago. So she wakes up around 8-8:30 and then at 7pm we start night routine. Bath, jammies, book, bed. Ds and dd share a room and fall asleep by say 8pm. Then at 10:30pm she wakes up and is up until 12:30-1am every.single.night!! This has happened for almost a month!

So if I give her a nap during the day and she stays awake until 11:30pm-12am.

We end up having to stay up late waiting for her to fall asleep. She just lies in her bed quietly, so she's not disobeying and playing or anything...

Any tips?
My SIS suggested melatonine, because her son has mitochondrial disease and needs it every night...but I don't want to resort to a pill

[EmilytheStrange]

I don't know if melatonin would work anyways or if it'd just delay the wakeup by a couple hours. It's definitely something to try if you feel like it though. I'd talk to her pediatrician first. And I'd think of it more for a child who was being unruly.

If she's just waking up and laying quietly in bed, but not getting up or making a ruckus, I'd probably just go to bed myself. Is she having any bad effects from this loss of sleep? Is she more cranky?

If I'm having a rough night and I'm awake, sometimes I'll notice that my child is also awake in their bed.. either talking to herself or playing with her bear.... it's the middle of the night. There's nothing I'm going to do about it. You cannot make a person sleep.

I don't know, I guess that's just my initial reaction. What does she say when you ask her why she wakes up?

[danner]

I doubt melatonin would work. It helps you go to sleep, not stay asleep.

It sounds like your daughter is doing what she needs to to go back to sleep. When my 4 year old wakes up, my husband rubs her back and encourages her to go back to sleep. Your daughter just needs to be taught how to cope when she wakes up. Many of us wake up at night, but it has taken us years of practice to know how to handle it. Your daughter just needs those tools.

[my2sweets]

My 5yr old has started waking in the middle of the night again. She has never been a sleep through the nighter-except for the 1st 6mos we lived here *sigh*-and for the last 2mos I have noticed when I get up in the early hours her light will be on and she'll be asleep. I have no idea when she wakes or how long she's awake but I have noticed on the days when she gets more exercise then usual I dont find her light on. However sometimes she still tells me she woke up so I dont know if she turns the light off or just briefly wakes then falls right back to sleep or if its a combo b/c she's never really clear. She seema to still be her normal silly self so I dont worry about it.