Gifted Children and sleeping problems?

Question

Has anyone had experience with a gifted child having problems sleeping? We've tried calming music, warm milk, warm baths, anything to 'un-stimulate' his 9 year old brain. But when he goes to bed each night he grows impatient and frustrated with the fact that he can't stop thinking which makes it even harder to get to sleep.

Answer 1

I always find it amazing that so many parents that have
above average intelligent children as "gifted". I think we
all are proud of our childrens accomplishments, and
sometime confuse intelligence as a gift. Gifted people
make up less that 3% of the population of any social
groups. It occurs in the same frequency in all ethnic
backgrounds. Highly motivated is not the same as
gifted. Some of these children already have early signs
of anxiety, with can be misperceived as gifted. Overt stress
and pressure to succeed can also promote these type
of irritabilities. I would suggest having these children
evaluated by an expert in child psychology, such as a
Psychiatrist or PHD before assuming it's only insomnia.
Sleep disorders are uncommon in healthy children.

Answer 2

I personally think this is a bit of a boy thing to some degree. I have EXACTLY the same problem with my son. It has been an ongoing since he started school, but when he does his national standardised tests, he is fine. However, every interview I have ever had with teachers, they discuss how he gets distracted, and sometimes he stares into space, other times he is distracted by his friends. He never gets his work finished, and we work on this constantly. He is the best speller in his class (has not had an incorrect answer in a spelling test), in the top maths class, but when it comes to work in class, he never finishes!! He is now in Year 5, so obviously this is something we are addressing pretty heavily, and the teachers have found that if I talk to him about it, he improves for a few weeks, and then starts lapsing. So I talk to him about it during homework time every couple of weeks, and that seems to have helped. I am still working with him on it, so I have no real solution, but ADD has never been a suggestion or even a thought in my mind. I also have a 9 year old stepson who is so bad that if he is distracted by the TV he will walk through a room and run into a door. I just think it is a bit of a boy thing. If anyone disagrees, I am sure I will get a thumbs down. My mother had 5 kids, 4 of whom were boys, and she agrees with me. Boys are less focused than girls. Just be there to help with his homework, sit and read with him before bed, stimulate his interests. I find this has worked for my son. He is starting at a boys school next year, where education will be totally focused toward the way boys learn, so I am really happy about that - he will probably thrive in that environment, and the teachers will be more understanding. And yes, there are times my son can be very focused, but only if he is interested. I understand your concern and frustration.

Answer 3

I spent several years researching the subject of giftedness in children, and I never saw any reference made to sleeping problems (although, of course, that doesn't mean one doesn't exist).

I've known some gifted children, and none of them had any problems falling asleep. Again, not saying the problem doesn't exist for some of them.

I wonder if you are attributing his sleeping issues to giftedness when maybe there is another cause that may not be related to his giftedness.

Is there any chance he's just going to bed before he's tired enough? Is there any chance he's someone who gets wide awake from a bath or from having to lay still in a quiet room without lights? As someone with a pretty active mind myself, I find that the minute all gets quiet my mind picks up speed. I find that I sleep best if I leave the television on with the volume down low and a small amount of light coming from somewhere. It makes me feel that there is are things going on that I can kind of keep an ear on, and because whatever is on is usually pretty uninteresting I fall asleep.

I think the principle I operate on is that a person who should be falling asleep should not be the most active thing in a room. With a little tv sound and picture and a little light coming from somewhere the room becomes more "active" than the trying-to-sleep person, and somehow that's what works for me.
(Of course, if I can't sleep I get up and get a couple of cups of coffee and maybe a cookie, which helps me sleep - so go figure.)

If you think I'm joking I'm not. I've always found that the quickest and easiest way for me to become wide awake is to "make the room sleep". I know enough other people who say the same thing that I know its not that unusual. I think that it is simply a matter of getting aggravated at being wide awake and having nothing to look at or listen to in order to have thoughts "pulled away" from one's own and instead focused on something that is more "neutral" in terms of having the potential of inviting alertness and thinking.

Answer 4

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 5

You describe my son who is gifted. But I don't stress it - I figure he'll sleep when he's tired. He reads in bed, to help him get sleepy sometimes, but quite often - he moves to the couch and falls asleep watching the television after we go to bed. My son has been like this for years - he's 11 now - and he still gets about 8 hours of sleep a night.

Answer 6

My child did stay up fairly late, but I let him bring books to bed with him. Often he would read 7 or 8 books cover to cover in an evening. I would find the books on the floor in the morning!

Answer 7

1. Make sure he does not have caffeine and sugar
2. Engage him in physically strenuous activities (not right before bedtime but running and jumping and stuff after school) which will help him be tired.
3. Teach him to relax. THere are techniques and skills for making your mind release and allowing your body to relax. Like PM yoga. He needs this skill for his whole life. Most of the techniques involve breathing and concentrating on the body (feel your toes and relax them, feel your calves and relax them etc.)
get some relaxing CDs and play one every night (conditioned response)

Answer 8

you shoud say "no sleep no gift"
then he will go to bed