Question
Ever since I young I have had issues on falling asleep. My days usually run with 4-5 hours until my body is exhausted and I can fall asleep early and sleep all night which is about 1x a week.
I'm starting to think that this is starting to happen to my oldest daughter (3y). Both girls have a strict bedtime of 8p. I will hear her toss and turn for a few hours. I'm not positive she is awake for the whole time but she does like to hum, sing, and talk to her "prince". She wakes up between 4:30 and 5a. Every time, she had a bad dream. My husband and I let her sleep a few times with us but started putting her back in her room. She will then get up again, go to the bathroom, and wont go back to bed. By the time we do get he back into bed our youngest wakes up and we have to get her back to sleep as well.
My husband can fall asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. He gets up for work at 6:15a and puts in 12h shifts so I can stay home and finish my college degree. We are both struggling at staying awake and are out of ideas on what to do with her. She does have a Night light but don't know what else to do. Any advice would be helpful!
Thank you~
Ashlyn
Answer
As far as being tired I can see why because of such poor sleep the children are getting. Try following these tip.Try these tips religiously for about 6-8 weeks but many have seen results
in as little as 2 weeks.lYou must go to bed and awaken the same time each day regardless
of how little or how much sleep you got the night before.
This starts to reset your sleep clock.
3 hours before bedtime stay away from
tea, coffee, caffeine, caramel colored soda like, coke,pepsi, ginger ale,
or root beer, chocolate and exercise .All these make for restless sleep.Do the following religiously for 4-6 weeks although some have seen changes in as little as 2 weeks.
Make sure room is quiet and dark. When you go to bed if you start to
twist and turn or if you wake up in the middle of the night and cant
go back to sleep, twist and turn for only 20 minutes, then get up, go
into a different room and read a book or magazine only! No computer!
When you start to doze immediately go back into the bedroom.This retrains
the brain into thinking that the bedroom is for restful sleep only. Do
this as many times as you awaken thru the night, it will lesson.
30 minutes before bedtime take a hot bath and immerse hands under the
water.Latest research states that the palms of the hand when immersed
in hot water send signals to the brain to relax. 15 minutes before bedtime\
drink a glass of warm milk. Milk when heated contains tryptophan, a natural
amino acid sleep inducer should do the trick. If this fails you should consider seeing a sleep center.
Your local hospital can refer you. Also go to sleepnet.com click on disorders insomnia
for more tips. Feel free to email again karels.
