Sleep Advice for Elementary-aged Kids?

THis may or may not work but have them keep a note pad by their bed at night. YOu also. Tell them to write down their thoughts as they are going to be. This used to help me relax before going to bed. Now my kids run my energy out I am exhausted by bed time.
Are they exercising enough during the day? You could have them go for a walk or run after dinner. Just to help wind down all that energy.

What was it my physician told me about suffering this problem---
After dinner all activity had to be of the calm and quiet nature. No thrilling or exciting TV shows or books, board games, a nice warm bath (not shower) and in my pj's a good half hour before laying down, a nice cup of warm tea, something soothing like Tension Tamer, Sleep Well, etc., and a really boring book, soft soothing music, deep breathing exercises, and learning to list my blessings. Give the worries up to a higher being in prayers.
Take into account as well some people have a lesser need for sleep than other people do. Maybe they just don't require 8 hours. I did extremely well on a maximum of 4 hours in a 24 hour period until I was about 46 years old. Could be their metabolism just doesn't require as much sleep.
Since you a an extremely active, busy person it could be they are the same way.

When I was younger I started writing before bed because reading didn't help me relaxe, I would always want to read more and more. I had a notebook that I wrote stories, journals and such. There were so many nights I wrote about the moon because I simply couldn't sleep and that seemed to help me relaxe some. I've kept them and gone back to read them over the years.
My son is a worrier and he HAS to have music on in order to fall asleep at 6. He listens to the music and falls right to sleep. If it's not on, he just tosses and turns.
I think finding the right thing that helps each child relaxe their mind is best.

Definately try melatonin. I give my son a chewable form, found in a local health food store, b/c he won't swallow pills. They also have a lotion/topical form of it. Works very well, night after night. You can also use it short-term, until your kids get into a "regular" routine.

You didn't mention the actual bedtime. It's great you have a set wake-up time and bedtime routine. Bedtime might be too late, though. My kids have a 'window'... if my son isn't in bed, lights out at 8pm he has a horrible time falling asleep. If he's in bed by 8pm he's asleep within minutes. If he misses it and it's 8:30, it can takes hours! He's just overtired and can't settle down at that point.

Do all the typical insomnia stuff... no TV after dinner, no rough-housing or sports within an hour or two of bedtime, read for awhile, avoid high-carb snacks after dinner (protein is best - think milk or yogurt) and keep bedrooms for sleeping - not playing or homework (so remove toys). Make sure they are outdoors running around crazy and exercising alot for a few hours a day. My kids fall asleep instantly when they had a full busy day.

Some kids require less sleep but remember that an overtired child usually doesn't 'act' tired. Most school-age kids require 10-11 hours of sleep each night. You didn't mention how your kids act during the day... my son's ADHD is barely manageable when he gets less than 11 hours of sleep so that's our clue he's not getting enough sleep. If your children behave nicely during the day than maybe they just don't need as much sleep.

Hi, S.,

I don't know if your children are having any screen time in the evening, but that should be the first thing to go. No computers, television, DS, etc.

Secondly, make sure they are getting LOTS of outdoor time during the day. I know this is hard when they're in school, because public schools don't have enough recess, but when they get home, make sure they are outside playing.

Last, make sure they are getting to bed early enough. (My 7 year old has to be in bed at 8:00 and my 10 year old gets to stay up until 9:00. They wake at 7:00 am.)

Hope these suggestions help.

Blessings, J.

There is a natural herbal supplement, Melatonin, that I recommend. I will give it to my kids the night before Christmas and the night before the first day of school. (They have the jitters those nights and can't get to sleep!!) Our bodies produce melatonin and it builds up in our system from morning until night, making us tired at bedtime. The melatonin supplement just adds a little more of what we already produce, making it easy to fall asleep. You can research it on-line or ask your doctor. It is perfectly safe and effective. Good luck.

I'll go ahead and respond even though my advice is already here. :) The notebook and pen/pencil by the bed also helped me personally. If I remembered anything important through the night it was right there to write down and have in the morning. It was also good for dreams or just to have a place to put things so they weren't floating around in my head causing worry.
I've also found as I've gotten older that puzzles help me to shut out other things. There are some math puzzles I used to do and then sudoku. Now I play boggle and solitare card games on my iPod or the Nintendo DS. But there is a fine line with games that make you think or want to win, they have to be the right mix of getting your mind off other things but also allowing it to relax enough to fall asleep. I'm not a competitive person so these work for me.
Best of luck to them. Hopefully if they can learn to fall asleep on their own early in life they won't be plagued as adults (as I write this at 4am!).

I have always had a hard time unwinding and so did my youngest daughter. My Dad insisted that Ovaltine would help when I was a child. It is really an old time warm drink and I am not sur if it was the ovaltine or the sitting quietly with my Dad and sipping together that helped me fall asleep. With my daughter TV had to go. She could watch Tv until about an hour before bed and then no more. Some research does show that TV can over stimulate the brain. We also used a sleep machine to block other sounds and help her to unwind. There are different sounds on a sleep machine and different people respond to different sounds. The sound of ocean waves was her favorite. Some times warm camomile tea helped her and bubble baths and reading helped. Good Luck!!!

Have you looked into Melatonin? This is a natural chemical that occurs in the body, but some don't make as much. This chemical is essentially what helps us fall asleep at night. You can buy Melatonin over-the-counter in either pill form or at drugstore.com in the liquid form. I have been giving this to my son,3, as he too has difficulty falling asleep. After trying every other suggestion from the doctors, I uneasily decided to research Melatonin. It has done wonders. We too get up early and my kids go to bed at 7. I give this to my son before bed, and it only takes about 10-20 minutes before he is out. Make sure to ask your doctor about what the correct dose should be for your children. Good luck and hang in there.

I second the melatonin. It is a natural chemical produced in your body that aids with sleep. People who produce less of it might have trouble sleeping. It has helped my 7 year old who used to stay awake for hours after bedtime and tended to wake up at 3am to go rummaging in the pantry and pop in a DVD.. A consistent routine and the melatonin supplement have worked wonders. His doctors ok'd it as harmless. You can find it at Kroger.

We don't watch much TV and screen time of other media is limited, especially less than 2 hours from bedtime.

Good luck !