4 year old can't switch off at night to sleep

go_cat

Our Ds has always been brilliant at going to bed... he has had the same bedtime routine since he was 6 months.

However since turning 4 last month he can't seem to switch off at night and just lays in bed reading / playing toys something he has never done before.

He is due to start school in september and i think has outgrown nursery as it doesn't seem to tire him anymore

He is so good at just laying there in bed never comes downstairs just will be awake for about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs every night bless him :A

Has anyone else had this with their child at a similar age I just feel bad that he is laying there awake ?

[Deleted User]

snap i've noticed this with my boy too who is in a very similar position to yours, except some nights he keeps "going to the toilet" for a change of walls i think! Yesterday i took him to a soft play prior to his taster session at school just to burn off the excess. Is your son an autumn baby?

I'm hoping school will tire him out again and the darker evenings (altho a way off) will help. Ironically my DD is crashing out every night as her 15hrs nursery time is exhausting her.

pigpen

don't let him have the light on in the first place.. lights aren't needed at the moment until well after 8 so it doesn't need to be on..

I'd go up and say lights off now take toys and books off him and lay him down.. if you let him lay there with the light on and with books and toys he won't go to sleep. You are the adult, you make the rules and it sounds like you are letting him make decisions for himself he shouldn't be making at 4.

chelle230

My son was exactly the same, nursery didn't tire him and he wouldn't go to bed, or would just not sleep once there.

he started school in September (he's 5 and half now) and has never slept better, in fact he goes to bed earlier than he did at nursery.
when he's been kept busy mentally all day, bedtimes are great!

go_cat

Fingers crossed for September then !

He doesn't have a light on only a little toy story night light which hardly emits any light!! But even with blackout blinds and curtains it still is light

Js_Other_Half

DS is 4.5, he sleeps well, but recently once we have left his room he turns on every light in his room and looks at books. He has said something about monsters, but only in reassuring me that he couldn't see any. I have decided to leave it, he's not causing any problems, and does fall asleep within half an hour or so.

meritaten

Does he have the same bedtime? perhaps he needs to go to bed a bit later? I also encourage 'quiet time' in the hour before bed. That means no stimulating TV, Dvds or games. its bath, into PJs and teeth brush, then into bed and being read to or listening to stories. Dvds are allowed if they are non'stimulating. then the routine 'night night, mind the bed bugs dont bite' bit, night light on and curtains drawn.

Person_one

Maybe he just needs less sleep? As long as he isn't falling asleep in the day then what's wrong with letting him read for an hour or so after bedtime till he nods off? That's what I do, maybe he's just very mature!

Plans_all_plans

What do you do with him after he finishes nursery? Wherever you go - like playgroup, the library, even the supermarket etc - walk him there and back as far as is possible.

I wouldn't let him watch TV in the afternoon either. Try to keep him active mentally and physically. The only time my DD (the same age as your son) doesn't sleep through 7pm til 7am is if she's taken a nap in the day - on these days, she'll go up at 8.

Loz01

God I think my bro and SIL could've written this! My nephew is 4 and NEVER switches off properly, he fidgets/moves/gets up constantly at night and talks in his sleep :rotfl: and will then wake up at 6am and be wide awake and ready to go! Nursery also seems too young for him now and I think once he starts school he'll get knackered out more easily (or here's hoping)

meeps

how about some story cd's? -we put ours on pretty quiet so he has to stay still to listen.