Child takes 1.5hours to fall asleep every night

[sharonkhoo]

How much does he sleep in the day? You probably need to cut back his daytime sleep by an hour or so. Also, make sure he doesn’t sleep past about 5pm in the afternoon. Wake him up at 5pm no matter how soundly asleep he is.

[xerith]

He sleeps around 2 hours in the afternoon usually around 2 to 4. I thought most children their age needs more sleep?

[Porky Pig]

xerith:

He sleeps around 2 hours in the afternoon usually around 2 to 4. I thought most children their age needs more sleep?

My kids will sleep at 8.30pm every night. They will be snoring away within mins after their heads hit their pillows. Maybe you can start his nap time slightly earlier. My Dd sleeps from 1 - 3pm every afternoon. She is 4.5 years old.

[sharonkhoo]

xerith:

He sleeps around 2 hours in the afternoon usually around 2 to 4. I thought most children their age needs more sleep?

It varies. Just like adults, sleep needs vary. You could try cutting the nap by 1/2 an hour. Other factors are how much physical activity he has during the day - you could try having some playground time before dinner to use up some energy. If you don't have a bedtime routine, instituting one may help. When my kids were small, we would have milk, bedtime story, then wash up and bed. Once they got used to the routine, just starting it makes them feel sleepy!

[SpartanMum]

IMHO, things to consider


1) what is the child doing just before sleep time - if it has anything to do with TV, electronic devices or running around…child may be overstimulated and so would need time to wind down. A calming bedtime routine may help in this case.

2) At this age, it is very unlikely that the child is getting too long a daytime nap. In fact, you can consider putting him to bed even earlier.

3) food intake - if child takes too much sweet foodstuff from the late afternoon onwards, he may also be overstimulated. Some kids may be more sensitive than others.

It is always good to stick to a bedtime routine -e.g. Go to bed about 8pm, read with him til 8.30pm and say goodnight. Try to keep calm because if you feel anxious, the child may pick up on this too and so have difficulty sleeping.

[libran269]

My DD was same when she was 2 years. Some kids are hyper -she had an active day, with minimal TV and watchful diet- it would take sometime for her to sleep. Sometimes its just the nature of kid. I had to taper down her day nap for better and sound sleep in the night.

[xerith]

Porky Pig:

xerith:

He sleeps around 2 hours in the afternoon usually around 2 to 4. I thought most children their age needs more sleep?

My kids will sleep at 8.30pm every night. They will be snoring away within mins after their heads hit their pillows. Maybe you can start his nap time slightly earlier. My Dd sleeps from 1 - 3pm every afternoon. She is 4.5 years old.

Wow... master. Please teach me your methods.

[xerith]

slmkhoo:

xerith:

He sleeps around 2 hours in the afternoon usually around 2 to 4. I thought most children their age needs more sleep?

It varies. Just like adults, sleep needs vary. You could try cutting the nap by 1/2 an hour. Other factors are how much physical activity he has during the day - you could try having some playground time before dinner to use up some energy. If you don't have a bedtime routine, instituting one may help. When my kids were small, we would have milk, bedtime story, then wash up and bed. Once they got used to the routine, just starting it makes them feel sleepy!

Thanks for the advice. We did try introducing some playground activity during the afternoon, but since both my wife and I are full time working, usually only get home around 8+ so a bit late to bring him.

Previously I tried just chasing him or playing hide and seek with him in the house to get him tired... but he ends up getting super hyper from the fun instead and sometimes seems to get nightmares at night as well (my child is quite a scaredy cat).

Normally he sleeps better when drinking milk, but nowadays he always pops back up after he finish all the milk and ask me to read story books to him. I tried reading for more than an hour each night and he still won't sleep.

I think I'll try again for the physical activity. Recently I'm trying to teach him how to ride a tricycle but his feet still can't fully reach the pedals so he gives up after a few minutes each time.

[xerith]

SpartanMum:

IMHO, things to consider


1) what is the child doing just before sleep time - if it has anything to do with TV, electronic devices or running around...child may be overstimulated and so would need time to wind down. A calming bedtime routine may help in this case.

2) At this age, it is very unlikely that the child is getting too long a daytime nap. In fact, you can consider putting him to bed even earlier.

3) food intake - if child takes too much sweet foodstuff from the late afternoon onwards, he may also be overstimulated. Some kids may be more sensitive than others.

It is always good to stick to a bedtime routine -e.g. Go to bed about 8pm, read with him til 8.30pm and say goodnight. Try to keep calm because if you feel anxious, the child may pick up on this too and so have difficulty sleeping.

Thanks for your advice.

He does gets easily addicted to any electronic devices, so I've cut down on that and made sure that he don't get to use it at night. However, for TV, so far at night I only let him watch baby TV sometimes when eating. I hope that is not too stimulating. I could try to stop that as well, but then it will be more difficult getting him to sit still to eat (which takes close to an hour as well).

Food wise, he is still on formula milk (Nestle Nan Pro 4) and also fish, veggies, egg and rice/porridge. No sweets.

Yeah, my wife also really wants to put him to bed earlier and so we'll try again once we figure out the method. (selfishly speaking, I'm ok with 9:30pm because if not when I get home I won't get to see him, but of course I hope the best for my child's health and development)