My son is 5 yrs old. when school starts how can i get him to go to sleep at a decent hour?

Question

I wake him up at 7am. I cant get him to bed until close to 10pm! Help!

Answer 1

Start a bedtime routine. Lets say you aim for 8 pm (that's when my Kindergartener goes to bed) at 7pm take him for his bath or shower (my son showers now but I'm still in the bathroom with him) have him brush his teeth and read a bedtime story. Tell him that after the story its time for bed. Not time for play, eat, drink, whatever. He gets his last drink when he brushes his teeth. That's it. Then tuck him in and say good night. Tell him that he needs his sleep so he can be well rested for school. My son is ADHD but this works for him too. We've been doing it for 3 yrs now (2 yrs head start) good luck tho. And yes by all means tire him out by playing or walking. It's good excercise. We still do that but I think my kids are immune to that. Oh and if you can. Make a turkey for supper the night before school starts. Turkey has a thing in it that makes ppl sleepy (think thanksgiving)

Answer 2

Aim for about 8 or 9, but once he starts school he'll be so tired from all the excitement... and if that doesn't work before you go to bed go play with him in the park in the evening or go out, go walking or something, find an activity that will make me so tired he won't be able to stand up any longer, im sure u can find something... swimming is a good one and all kids should know how.

Answer 3

I know exactly what you mean. We are going through this right now. Here is what we are trying...we are aiming for 9 pm (trying to be realistic since he is used to going to bed 10-10:30 pm). We start showers at 7:45-8 and then have some "wind down time" until 9. We are also trying to limit/remove naps...he napped yesterday when we went to go see my mom and well, at 9pm he said he couldn't sleep. We told him he could lay in bed and play with his teddy bears (well not "play" but talk to them quietly) but he couldn't get out of bed. he got up once to use the bathroom again but then after that we didn't hear anything out of him. And yes, try not to make too much noise after you put him to bed. If he hears us up and doing stuff, well of course he wants to be up too. I normally try to do things that don't have me running all over the house that time of night. I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 4

Start an evening routine; dinner at 5:00, an hour of play or TV, then a calming bath (lavender helps, they make baby bath products with lavender in it), story time in bed with cuddles, then lights out by 8 or 9. Stick with it, it won't be Easy at first, but with all children, consistency works best. Good luck!

Answer 5

Might be time to stop having naps in the daytime. You need to be firm with the bedtime until you can get him into a routine...a 5 yr old should be in bed by 8.

Answer 6

My kids go to bed at 8 PM and wake up at 7AM. They are not given a choice. When its bedtime, they go to bed. If they want to lay there, fine. But they are not allowed to get up or whine at me the next morning. If they are cranky when they get up, they have been warned that I'll happily move their bedtime back to 7PM. So far it works just fine.

Answer 7

you need him in a good bedtime routine bath, story, bed make sure everything is relaxed and not hectic before going to bed.
if you wake him p at 7am then you need to make sure he gets out of bed at the end of the day you need to be in charge start now.

Answer 8

The secret is to make an example, and make some changes.
I suggest putting the TV in your bedroom, and you too should sleep early.
He will sleep out of boredom.
You dont actually have to sleep, you can just stay locked in your room and dont make a sound.

Answer 9

switchoff the tv at 9 pm he will definitely go to sleep by 10

Answer 10

try to give your son an activity that will make him feel sleepy and practice him to wake up early while school is not yet getting started