how do i get a real hyper 6 year old to bed?

Answer 1

Set a routine and stick to it.

Bath time, stories, then bed time.

Avoid all sugars (including juice) several hours before bed time. No soda, no sugar, no caffiene.

Make bed time a "calm" time. He/she probably won't respond to the change right way, but you need to remain calm yourself and just continue. It might take a couple weeks to get your child adjusted.

Answer 2

Start a new night time routine.
After supper, go for a half hour walk together. Then when you get back, it is a drink and small "healthy" snack of fruit. After snack, go and put on pajamas, brush teeth, floss teeth, wash face. After all the bathroom hygiene stuff is completed, put child to bed with a story. Read the story, hugs, kisses, turn the light out and good night.

No sugar, no loud/hyper activities. Spend quality quiet time together. If it is raining, instead of the walk, have the children read to you.

And remember it takes at least 20 times for something to become a habit, so once you settle on a night-time routine, stick to it, don't change it all the time. Then the children will know what to expect and just start doing it.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Any child can be easily put to bed. Include warnings of impending bedtime starting an hour or so in advance. Keep lights low, TV off, start talking in softer voice. That gives the child's body hints about the time of day. Establish a bedtime routine. Bath, brush teeth, book, talk about favorite thing that happened that day, goodnight. Keep room free of distractions. (Who wants to sleep in a room with 10,000 toys and an xbox?) Also, never use bedtime as a punishment. It gives a negative connotation of bedtime.
Expect the behavior to get a little worse as you establish routine. Children will always test. In babies it takes 3 days to establish a bedtime routine. May take more or less in an older child. You can do this. Good luck!

Answer 4

No caffiens, sugars, drinks, or snacks of any kind within an hour or more (if needed) of the time when you want them to be settling down. My 5 year od daughter likes to have her back run gently for a few minutes to calm her while she watches a movie. After only about 5 minutes, she may not be asleep, but she's calmed down enought o go to sleep on her own. Give him/her a bath with chamomile or lavender wash about 30 minutes before bedtime. That works with my 3 year old son. He's really the hyper one. The most important thing I've found with my kids is keeping them on a strict schedule. For example:When I get off work at 5, I go get them and we're home by 6. As soon as we get home, they wash up and have a snack and/or candy with whatever drink they want (soft drinks, kool-aid, juice, chocolate milk, etc.). They play in their rooms while I make dinner, which is usually served around 6:45 or so. After dinner they play either outside or pretty much wherever they want until about 7:45. Then they get in the bath. That lasts (with cleaning both of them, giving them time to play, and getiign pj's on) until about 8:30. Then they brush their teeth, give their dad hugs and kisses, and they're off to bed. Once they're in the bed, I rub each of their backs for about 5-10 minutes each. They're both tired, relaxed, and happy to go to bed. Plus, they wake up better in the mornings because they have structure and a good night's sleep. Of course, the hours and activities may be different according to your schedule and preferences. But it's never a bad idea to keep your kids on a regular schedule. My kids know what comes next and know that the same things have to be done every day and they do it. On the weekends, I pretty much let them do as they please, but they're so used to their schedule, that it doesn't change much even though I don't make them go by it.

Answer 5

No soda or sugar-laden snacks after 6 p.m.
No tv an hour before bedtime (some shows are just too stimulating).

This is what my friends with kids do at bedtime:
Set a routine - such as, an hour or so before bed, pajamas go on. Then he gets 20 minutes of quiet play time, in his room. Then spend half an hour reading to him, and then let him go to the bathroom, have a very small drink of water, and kiss everybody goodnight. Then into the room, lights out, night over. If he won't stay in bed, then tomorrow his bedtime is half an hour earlier.

This is what I did with my daughter. People said I was nuts, but it worked. Operating on the theory that kids don't want to go to bed because they think they're missing out on something, I told her I didn't care what time she went to bed. She could stay up all night for all I care. The only catch is, when it was time to get up in the morning, she had to get up. No "five more minutes", no pretending she didn't hear me. If she couldn't get up, her bedtime the next night was one hour after dinner.
She stayed up really, really late for a couple of nights, but I only had to put her to bed at 7:00 once. After the novelty wore off, and she realized nothing particularly interesting goes on around the house after dark anyway, she usually went on her own around 8:30.

Answer 6

young children respond well to routine. Start his day with a nice healthy breakfast, provide nourishing and timely meals and snacks. Eat dinner at a decent time - usually no later than 6 or 7 if possible. Have a half hour to an hour, depending on bedtime, of playtime outside or with physical indoor activities, then have bath time, read a book together and then bed.

Answer 7

After dinner, start slowing things down.

No more sweets before bed time.

Use the same bedtime each night, that way the child will know what to expect. Remember, all children need and want structure.

A good start would be to read him a couple of stories.

Then pour his bath and add a little "bath therapy" to help soothe and calm him. (this works wonders)

Take him to his room and teach him how to pray before going to sleep.

Then tuck him in for the night, tell him you love him, you'll see him in the morning and give him a good night kiss.

Answer 8

Reasonable diet control after dinner, and very rigorous enforcement of bedtime. If the six year old is getting out of bed, close the door and sit outside of it, ushering him back to bed until he gets the message that you are serious. This means you are going to have a few tough nights sitting outside his door (get a good book) but the payoff is worth it. Having a steady bedtime routine is also essential. Bath, then book, then bed for example.

Answer 9

first, make sure you have a set routine. I'd suggest dinner at least 2 hours before bedtime. Then take him outside to play for at least 30 minutes to get out the energy. Then do bath, book, and bed. When its been hard lately for my kids to settle into bed, I do bath within 45 minutes of bed. That way they go to bed cool and are more likely to snuggle in the covers and go on to sleep. Then shut the door and walk away. Mine are allowed 1 bathroom trip before I go to bed, and I better not hear any noise comming from their room. They could be reading or playing quietly, but at least they are in their bedroom for the night. I'm not gonna control every speck of their night routine, but if they keep making noise, I will sit in their doorway and watch them until they sleep. Quit wiggling. Stop twitching your foot. Leave the covers alone. Roll over, etc...Just so they know I'm paying attention. Sometimes it takes 1 swat on the leg before my kids will settle down. But overall, just keep at consistancy. That is the key.

Answer 10

Watch what you feed him all the time, not just for dinner. Make his meals and snacks as healthy as possible. Lots of fruit, veggies and water. Cut out junk food. Next, get him on a rigid schedule. And stick to it. My son's nighttime routine is dinner(around 5 or 530), shower, play till bedtime (8 or 830), and a night night story. It should take about a week.