My 6 year old grandson?

Question

does not sleep beyond 05.30am every day, and his parents are just so tired as he is on the go allday and never stops until he goes to bed, then he has them both at their beckon call until he does settle down.. Bedtime is normally between 6.30 & 7.00pm, though she has tried putting him to bed later, earlier; she has getting him to have a sleep ealry afternoon, But nothing works and the problem is that he is not getting the enjoyment out of his little life as he should because he gets beyond himself with tiredness and cannot even cope with being taken to the shops. Though
He in an only child be he is most definetly not a spoilt child.

Has anyone any experience of this type of sleeping problems with their own child or know someone who has and iif so did the sleeping problem resolve it's self or did you have to resort to outside help?

He does not sleep during the day, but my daughter has tried this as because she thinks he is over tired. She has also tried putting him to bed later, but this has not helped, he still wakes up at the same time each day.

All your answers have good suggestions, However my daughter has tried most except for giving his a sedative which she has refused to do, but this maybe the way of getting him back into a resonable sleep pattern. He has never had junk food or fruit drinks. He has never drinks tea or coffee and he eats a well balanced diet.

He does attend school and his teacher has mentioned that he gets very tired and irritable in the afternoons. Obviously through lack of sleep.

He is an exceptionally bright child (I would say that would'nt I) and has the reading capability of a ten year old. This might be the cause, that his mind is on the go all the time and cannot sleep properly.

What a worry it is. But thank you all for your contributions, I am sure that the right answer is amongst them somewhere.

Answer 1

As everyone says 12 hours is about the norm.
I know from experience though that putting your child to bed later makes them Miserable through the day if they still wake early, it does not tend to make them sleep later.
My daughter is an early riser (was a very early riser when she was younger)Some people are morning people.
What your daughter needs to explain is that if he wants to get up early that is fine but he must remain in his room until it is a more reaonable time for everyone else.
It is a bit like not phoning anyone before 10 am on a sunday..you have to learn this :)
I left a drink of water in my daughters room for her in the morning and sometimes a small snack and she was asked not to disturb other people because some people just needed more sleep than she did. I asked her to do something quiet in her room ie draw or read a book.
Eventually she got the message and there was no battle in the morning trying to get her to go back to bed. Now she sleeps until about 8 am and even now she does not come out of her room until she hears someone else up.
( I try not to go pee after 5 am even now unless I want to get up !!! )
I work on a childrens ward and the children vary so much , some won't goto bed, some won't get up and some wake as soon as the light shines thru the window..around 4 am at the moment !

Answer 2

Hi There, I have three boys, older now, but my advice would be to let him know that after dinner is "mom and daddy time" for say a half hour to an hour where he has to entertain himself with books, tv whatever his choice happens to be that day. Also, if he wakes up early, he can go quietly to the livingroom and watch tv until mom and dad are ready to help him in the kitchen. My boys would wake up at five or six a.m. too and bed time was eight where they were only allowed to read books after eight and sleep when they finally got tired. Also make sure there's a special time just for him where he gets undivided attention so it isn't a "beckon and call" situation becuase that gets tiring for adults. On the subject of shopping....my boys endured it, and perhaps you could offer some type of reward at the end if he's good, if not, don't give into him. I know it sounds mean, but they're only suggestions and I wish you luck. Enjoy him, he'll be out of that stage soon.

Answer 3

First of all, 6:30 or 7:00 seems to me to be too early for a 6 year old to go to bed. No wonder he's up at 5:30. Next, they should not be at his beck and call ever. When he's put to bed, it should be routine that he settles down and goes to sleep. Maybe a routine of a bedtime story but that's all. This has to be nipped in the bud right away because 6 years old is pretty old to be ruling the roost. Imagine what he'll be like at 15 is this behavior isn't stopped now.

Answer 4

I would certainly try to avoid the afternoon nap. Kids tend to stop needing them at the age of three.

My six year old went through a stage of getting up at 5:30 & that started when the clocks changed. It's lighter earlier & it really confuses them. She can go to bed anytime from 7:30 - 10:00, it makes no difference.

I have a four year old & six year old. We started taking them for a walk around 6:30 and letting them get tired by themselves. If this is not possible, we let them play out the back for an hour before bedtime. I know with one child, he's not going to tir himself out on his own.

My only other suggestions are:

A blackout blind in the bedroom so he'll think it's still night.
A relaxing lavendar bath before bed.
Lavendar pillows.

I wish them the best of luck - we now got a lie in until 6:30 now, every hour helps. :-)

Answer 5

Try not to give him cocoa or sweets after 6p.m. Let him play outside at least 3 hours a day. Make him do some exercises, for example: do you see that tree? can you run from here to there? do you know the best runner on this distance is a 5 years old kid? do you think you can be better? and he runs, and you keep the ''timer'' and you make hin run more times. Then go with him in the park , let him play with other kids. When he go to bed, put him on his belly and gentle tap his back, read him a bed time story.Maybe it won't work in few days, but after a month or two, he will sleep better.
P.S: I am sorry my english is not so good, i hope you understand.

Answer 6

This is what I think you should do, let him stay up all night, and ignore him. Show him that he needs to go to sleep, that it is what Mommy and Daddy do. They shoudl put him in bad, and then go to bed, watch TV, what ever they would do afterwards. He will see that they are not going to pay attion to him, and then two things might happen.

1. He might see his demads will not be meet, and he will go to bed. Afterwards, have Mom and Dad tell him about grown up time, and how he needs to sleep.

2. He will throw fits, then when he sees no one will respound, he will stay up. He will do what ever he will do, and finally he will get tuckred out, and go to sleep. Now, wake him up early! You must do that, day after day at the same time! Then, if he did nto get enough sleep, he will get tired and og to bed when you say it. If he throws fits, good, he will get tired faster.

Just remember, sometimes the parent cant always be the friend. I Hope it works out for the best. Contact a famly doctor for more infomation, if needed.

Answer 7

My 6 year old does not sleep but that is because he has autism. It's 5 am right now, and we have not been to bed. He can stay up for long periods hpyer! They have suggested I get him a mild sedative, but have been against it so far. I am just trying to cope.

I wish I had some sugeestions. Are you saying bedtime is 6:30 to 7 pm? That is very early. Do you expect him to sleep for more than 12 hours?

Answer 8

I used to get up at 06:00 every day as a kid, but I was generally old enough to entertain myself from 4 onwards, so my folks stayed in bed. I even learned how to get my brother (2 years younger than me) out of his cot at around that age, so I played games with him until my parents got up. I only started finding myself getting up later at around 16-18, when I started getting up at 06:30 and eventually I got to where I am now, at 24 getting up at around 07:30 on an average morning, and as late as 09:00 after a long night's sleep when I'm particularly tired. I'm not much of a sleeper, I only need my minimum 7-8 hours to feel recharged.

Sorry, wish I had an answer you wanted to hear. Hopefully your Grandson will learn that he doesn't need mum and dad to pay attention to him all of the time, and that you can play on your own at times.

Answer 9

My kids both wake up at 5.30 - 6.00am every day! That's what children do!

Has your daughter got a blackout blind in your grandson's room? It certainly helps a little as it fools them into thinking it's still night time.

Children need about 12 hours sleep a night and I'm afraid that until he reaches his teenage years (when you can't get them out of bed) his parents are just going to have to live with permanent tiredness, like the rest of us parents of young children. Try having another one if they want to know what really tired is!

Answer 10

My son is almost 5, he gets up around 7am every morning on his own, and that's with going to bed around 9pm, and usually without taking a nap. Sometimes, if he is really tired, he takes naps, but I don't force it. I've spoken with his pediatrician and he says that it is fine. His parents should speak with his pediatrician so they can figure out what is best for him. It might not be a sleeping problem per say. It could be nutrition, stress, anxiety, or even depression. There are a lot of things children can't express in words, so it's hard to tell. My best suggestion is speak with his pediatrician.

--Stacey