bright children & trouble falling asleep?

[caedmyn]

Is there any correlation with bright children having a harder time than more average children falling asleep? I feel like I am the world's worst parent in the sleep department. My 5 YO DD & 2.5 YO DS both take HOURS to fall asleep at night. It's not because they're not tired or need less sleep than average. We've tried bedtime routines, white noise, and about everything else I've ever read in a "how to get your child to sleep" book. Now I'm wondering if maybe bright children who aren't challenged enough during the day have more trouble falling asleep. Probably grasping at straws, but I'm rather desperate.

 

Is there something I could/should be doing in the daytime that might make it easier for them to fall asleep? I don't do much in the way of challenging activities with them, I'm barely functional with 5-6 hours of broken sleep a night due to a 7 month old who's an even worse sleeper than his siblings:banghead:I'd say they're both bright, I don't know if they're "gifted" or not. DD is one of those kids who asks a million questions and wants to know everything about everything. DS1 is a very intense, very active child who is into EVERYTHING all the time. If I take my eyes off him for a second he's dumping ketchup into a glass, pouring water from the water cooler on the floor, climbing out the (daylight) basement window, or whatever else pops into his head. I'm sure as soon as he gets the manual dexterity I'll find him dismantling the toaster oven and things like that.

[Paz]

When my kids were younger I tried to wear them out as much as possible so they would sleep. They were both very active and into everything. They rarely took naps but didn't really want to sleep at night either. I don't know about the correlation between being bright and falling asleep but I do know my brother is extremely gifted and has always had trouble sleeping. He was also very energetic and active like my kids were. In the summers we would go to the pool as often as possible and as soon as they were old enough for organized sports I had them doing soccer and swim team to help with their energy levels. I feel for you and hope you get some great suggestions.

[hmschooling]

I find this to be the case in my home as well. We started a "sensory diet" (nothing to do with food) and it's helped! The brushing and joint compression is the biggest help. You can google it for lots of info. We just do a soft bristle brush similar to what a surgeon scrubs with before surgery, and do up and down one arm and switch to other without losing contact with my hand (just always be touching their skin somewhere)...then legs, and finally back. Up and down to cover the entire skin surface. THen follow with joint compressions which is too hard for me to describe right now. It's late! LOL We do it 2,3,4, maybe 5 times a day. Plus weight bearing activities, heavy or weighted blanket, white noise in the room (box fan is good), and plenty of sensory input throughout the day. At one point, we gave her a teether type thing to chew on for the input and it helped soooooo much.

 

Also, melatonin given at 5pm makes a huge difference!

[justasque]

Is there any correlation with bright children having a harder time than more average children falling asleep?

 

Yes, there is a correlation. Yes, it is a pain!

[Sushi's Mom]

I think it is pretty common. I have read in books/websites about gifted kids and our psychologist has verified it. Generally, gifted/bright kid's need less sleep, as well may have trouble falling asleep. Personal experience here with both. For me it is like my brain never shuts down. I'm constantly thinking of many things all at once and cannot just clear my mind. My daughter also has these issues. Both of us also need less sleep. She hardly took naps as a baby. She was pretty much awake the entire day, maybe taking one or two 10 minute naps per day. Then she only slept for about 9 hours at night.

 

Sorry, I don't have any tips for you. Oh, one thing that does help us to sleep longer in the morning is that we installed room darkening shades.

 

I believe this is also common with ADHD. (which my daughter and I both also have.) hmm, now that I say that, maybe it is the bright/ADHD combo because my husband is smarter than I am, but he doesn't have ADHD. He has no trouble falling asleep and he needs much more sleep than I do.

[Denise in Florida]

In my experience, there is a correlation.

 

Both of my dds are very bright and both have sleep issues. As my older dd describes it; she can not get her brain to shut off long enough to get to sleep.

[Desert Rat]

Yup. I'm with you. My smartie still doesn't sleep a lot. Many people advised me against this, but I let him pile books around him in bed (even at 2) and read until he was tired. He goes to bed at the same time every night. A lot of people think that bed should only be for sleeping. This is what worked for us though. Otherwise, I would have never gotten any rest for myself.

He is 11 now and retires at 8, falls asleep around 9-10 and is up at 5:30 on his own. Every once and awhile, he will sleep in and he seems to be less motivated to wake up at 5:30 on school days, but he is still up. He isn't nice to speak with in the morning so we all have learned to let him be until he's had a shower and his decaf. :)

[eternalknot]

I believe certain personalities have a harder time winding down. Same people who are always multi-tasking ... who can't just sit and watch a movie without also cooking, thumbing through a magazine, or surfing the internet. Same people who jump around in their speech because their mouths don't always keep up with their thoughts!

 

Nighttime is quiet so there aren't (m)any auditory distractions ... if the lights are out there are no visual distractions ... it's just you, left alone with your thoughts ... all of them racing around competing for the attention they were denied earlier in the day.

 

You have to find a way to quiet their minds at night. Just how to do that will depend upon the individual child, I'd guess. My oldest has a hypnotherapy CD that helps him get to sleep; we listened to it when I was pregnant with my other child and having trouble falling to sleep. My younger child prays her rosary and puts herself into this meditative trance-like place, - the words and physical rosary occupy her (without need of light) and the "white thoughts" (as opposed to white noise) keep her mind from racing around.

 

I'm not sure what might work for your kids, but is there something you've noticed that really gets them to relax and be still? If not hypnosis or prayers, maybe a CD of piano songs or repeating a short rhyme over and over, or something? I think the goal is to give their mind a rest, and then sleep will naturally follow.

[T'smom]

This is very depressing, but makes a lot of sense. My ds always takes hours to sleep no. matter. what. Spent the day at the waterpark? Doesn't matter- he STILL won't sleep. He lays in bed and looks at books. And he's very, very bright.

 

(This even impacts our teA brewing because we can't stay awake as long as he can.)

[YLVD]

Is there any correlation with bright children having a harder time than more average children falling asleep? I feel like I am the world's worst parent in the sleep department. My 5 YO DD & 2.5 YO DS both take HOURS to fall asleep at night. It's not because they're not tired or need less sleep than average. We've tried bedtime routines, white noise, and about everything else I've ever read in a "how to get your child to sleep" book. Now I'm wondering if maybe bright children who aren't challenged enough during the day have more trouble falling asleep. Probably grasping at straws, but I'm rather desperate.

 

Is there something I could/should be doing in the daytime that might make it easier for them to fall asleep? I don't do much in the way of challenging activities with them, I'm barely functional with 5-6 hours of broken sleep a night due to a 7 month old who's an even worse sleeper than his siblings:banghead:I'd say they're both bright, I don't know if they're "gifted" or not. DD is one of those kids who asks a million questions and wants to know everything about everything. DS1 is a very intense, very active child who is into EVERYTHING all the time. If I take my eyes off him for a second he's dumping ketchup into a glass, pouring water from the water cooler on the floor, climbing out the (daylight) basement window, or whatever else pops into his head. I'm sure as soon as he gets the manual dexterity I'll find him dismantling the toaster oven and things like that.

 

Hmm, I'm not sure. I will say that I have always done well academically, skipped ahead grades, etc. I'm book smart but I'm fairly life stupid.

 

I have had sleep problems for my entire life. I can't shut off my brain. It just runs quickly. I have some sort of delayed sleep syndrome. I suffered from incredible insomnia as an adolescent. I also have bipolar disorder as well as ADD. I think that all of it contribute to my sleep issues.

[YLVD]

I believe certain personalities have a harder time winding down. Same people who are always multi-tasking ... who can't just sit and watch a movie without also cooking, thumbing through a magazine, or surfing the internet. Same people who jump around in their speech because their mouths don't always keep up with their thoughts!

 

Nighttime is quiet so there aren't (m)any auditory distractions ... if the lights are out there are no visual distractions ... it's just you, left alone with your thoughts ... all of them racing around competing for the attention they were denied earlier in the day.

 

You have to find a way to quiet their minds at night. Just how to do that will depend upon the individual child, I'd guess. My oldest has a hypnotherapy CD that helps him get to sleep; we listened to it when I was pregnant with my other child and having trouble falling to sleep. My younger child prays her rosary and puts herself into this meditative trance-like place, - the words and physical rosary occupy her (without need of light) and the "white thoughts" (as opposed to white noise) keep her mind from racing around.

 

I'm not sure what might work for your kids, but is there something you've noticed that really gets them to relax and be still? If not hypnosis or prayers, maybe a CD of piano songs or repeating a short rhyme over and over, or something? I think the goal is to give their mind a rest, and then sleep will naturally follow.

 

You just described me. That's exactly what it is. I see a therapist for my mood disorder and we have been doing sleep training. It takes a lot of work to try to sleep well for me!

[littleWMN]

I have two like this. One is fairly bright (not gifted) and just doesn't require much sleep. She never has, even in infancy.

 

The other is actually delayed and she's our worst sleeper. She was on melatonin for awhile, which helped, but is now on 5-HTP.

 

For my first, it simply doesn't matter what all we do in a day, or how much sleep she got the night before. She just doesn't need much. It's hard sometimes.

[JadeOrchidSong]

My ds8 falls asleep very very easily.

My ds6 often has trouble falling asleep. He will come to me and say, "I can't sleep." I will say, "Sit in the hallway and read a book." because they share a room and there is no light on when it is bedtime. I am very frustrated sometimes. Thanks for the thread. At least I am not alone.

[LittleIzumi]

This is very depressing' date=' but makes a lot of sense. My ds always takes hours to sleep no. matter. what. Spent the day at the waterpark? Doesn't matter- he STILL won't sleep. He lays in bed and looks at books. And he's very, very bright.

 

(This even impacts our teA brewing because we can't stay awake as long as he can.)[/quote']

 

In the book I'm reading, Taming the Spirited Child, it actually says that lots of physical activity does NOT wear out spirited kids. It winds them up instead. Mine are more grumpy after activity than before. Sensory diet stuff helps a bit. Mine just went to sleep and it's 10:30 (went to "bed" a long, long time ago). I need to up the sensory diet again--deep pressure, compression, maybe brushing again. I also should pull out her weighted blanket....

[crazyforlatin]

Is there any correlation with bright children having a harder time than more average children falling asleep? I feel like I am the world's worst parent in the sleep department. My 5 YO DD & 2.5 YO DS both take HOURS to fall asleep at night. It's not because they're not tired or need less sleep than average. We've tried bedtime routines, white noise, and about everything else I've ever read in a "how to get your child to sleep" book. Now I'm wondering if maybe bright children who aren't challenged enough during the day have more trouble falling asleep. Probably grasping at straws, but I'm rather desperate.

 

Is there something I could/should be doing in the daytime that might make it easier for them to fall asleep? I don't do much in the way of challenging activities with them, I'm barely functional with 5-6 hours of broken sleep a night due to a 7 month old who's an even worse sleeper than his siblings:banghead:I'd say they're both bright, I don't know if they're "gifted" or not. DD is one of those kids who asks a million questions and wants to know everything about everything. DS1 is a very intense, very active child who is into EVERYTHING all the time. If I take my eyes off him for a second he's dumping ketchup into a glass, pouring water from the water cooler on the floor, climbing out the (daylight) basement window, or whatever else pops into his head. I'm sure as soon as he gets the manual dexterity I'll find him dismantling the toaster oven and things like that.

 

Do they take naps? I cut off naptime and it has helped somewhat but it's still of a very, late hour.

[twoxcell]

I have no idea about a correlation, but none of my children have ever required as much sleep as other kids I know. All of mine were down to 1 nap by 9 months, and dropped naps all together shortly after 2. If they do take a nap they will be up until 11 or later(I have been up with my 3 year old at 12am before because she had a nap). I always read about kids on forums taking 3 hr naps, and then going to bed at 7:00 at night or something crazy like that. I just got my youngest to sleep through the night and he is 19 months old.

[twoforjoy]

I'm not sure how much is related to intelligence/giftedness or not, but I do think that people, including children, vary wildly in how much sleep they need.

 

My DS has never been a sleeper. From the time he was born, he had an incredibly difficult time falling asleep--for years and years he had to be touching me to sleep, and even now, at 7, he is much happier falling asleep snuggled up next to me than alone--and has never seemed to need (or at least been able/willing to get) as many hours of sleep as most kids his age. He dropped naps entirely by the time he was 18 months, because we found that he'd nap for an hour, and then be up 3-4 hours later at night.

 

His sleep issues are a big part of the reason why our first two kids are six years apart. He very nearly did DH and I in.

 

My DD has been a good sleeper from birth. She would routinely sleep for 5-6 hour blocks even as a newborn. She was sleeping through the night in a crib on a consistent basis by 6 months (she actually can't sleep well if she's next to me or DH, and prefers sleeping alone). At 15 months she's just now transitioning from two naps to one, and still takes two naps some days. I'd say she gets about 13-14 hours of sleep a day, compared to the maybe 9-10 hours (if that) my son was getting at her age.

 

One issue my DS has is with not being able to shut down at night. He just wants to keep talking and talking and asking questions. Usually what I do is give him a chance to tell me or ask me 3 things, and then he has to be quiet for the night. He's also allowed to come out of his room, after we tuck him in, one time for a non-emergency, but after that, there are consequences. Both of those things seem to help a bit.

[crazyforlatin]

I have no idea about a correlation, but none of my children have ever required as much sleep as other kids I know. All of mine were down to 1 nap by 9 months, and dropped naps all together shortly after 2. If they do take a nap they will be up until 11 or later(I have been up with my 3 year old at 12am before because she had a nap). I always read about kids on forums taking 3 hr naps, and then going to bed at 7:00 at night or something crazy like that. I just got my youngest to sleep through the night and he is 19 months old.

 

Yes! That was us for so long. It's just that if a kid sleeps at 12am (or later), she has to take a nap the next day, and then the cycle continues. We cut the nap only recently but she still can't sleep by 8 or 9 or 10.

 

I have a friend whose kid is like this - naps for 2 hours and then falls asleep by 8.

[twoforjoy]

I have a friend whose kid is like this - naps for 2 hours and then falls asleep by 8.

 

My DD is still little, but it's not unusual for her to wake up at 7, take a nap from 10-12, take another nap from 3-4:30, and then be asleep by 7:30.

 

Even at her age, if my DS had napped like that, he'd have been up until midnight.

[Bootsie]

This has been the experience in our household also. DD has always been a good sleeper. DS is another story. As he lies in bed his mind starts generating all kinds of questions. An active day didn't help; dietary changes didn't help; routines didn't help; melatonin didn't help; even benadryl didn't help.

 

On one Christmas Eve he came in crying, afraid that his sister would be mad because he couldn't get to sleep and Santa Claus would not visit our house.

 

The one thing that has helped the most is that we put a VCR in his room so that he can watch movies. We realized that every time he tried to watch Star Wars he fell asleep. I know this is the opposite of all of the advice about getting kids to sleep. However, instead of getting overly stimulated mindless watching of a show seems to allow him to turn his brain off so that he can sleep. It has definitely made it easier for the rest of the family.

[happypamama]

My very bright, very active, very social, most likely ADHD, child has a very hard time falling asleep. Once she does fall asleep, she is a very deep sleeper, but even as a baby, she'd have a hard time falling asleep. Didn't matter that it was just plain old boring me around all day -- she'd fight naps like crazy, figuring she'd miss the party. She does better if she can read quietly for a bit before bed (DH is the same way), and we rarely do movies or computer before bedtime for the kids, but it is still hard for her to shut everything off, mentally, so she can fall asleep.

 

My 2yo is still baby enough that if he's not napped, he falls asleep more easily; we'll see what happens as he grows older. My 6yo, who is bright but not the "brain always goinggoinggoing a million miles an hour" like his sister, and who is quieter and shyer in general, usually falls asleep pretty easily; then again, he's a child who still needed a nap at least a few days a week past his fifth birthday, whereas my other two have done fine without naps after about age two.

[ChristusG]

Interesting! My DD7 has always taken SO long to go to sleep. She's like the energizer bunny and can stay awake very, very late. She's always been like this. When she was 4, 5, and 6 I was really going crazy at bedtime. It was awful. It's gotten a little better. We put her to bed, pray with her, read to her, and let her tell us 3 "important" things (if we don't limit it to 3, she'll be telling us things for hours), then we turn on the fan (for white noise), turn off the light, and leave. It's finally gotten better.

 

DD is not gifted....but she's very bright, remembers things easily, and is very very inquisitive.

 

Very interesting.

 

DD4 has always fallen asleep really well. She requires more sleep than DD7.

[Guest momk2000]

My 10yo dd frequently has trouble sleeping, is very bright, and has PDD. She is also not a morning person, so our school day frequently does not begin unti 10-10:30 am.

[JennyD]

Huh. My oldest, very intense, seemingly very bright child is exhausted by nightfall and seems to need on the high end of sleep to function. I have always assumed that it's because living life at full throttle is rather tiring. But perhaps he's just not as bright as I thought :001_smile:

 

I will say that I have learned the hard way that my little children need a LOT of physical activity to be their best selves. A really, really lot. Every day. It's exhausting just watching them sometimes.

[Geo]

Yes, mine is bright...and ADHD. He can often still be awake at 1:30 a.m., and yet pop out of bed early. He's always been like this. Me too, but I am ADD. I have a very active mind; I become fatigued but not sleepy. I even think in my sleep. No kidding. I tend to average about 5 hours a night, my husband and daughter require 10-12 hours, every night.

 

Thomas Edison supposedly slept very little.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Geo

[Giraffe]

It's 9:30 at night here and DD (4yo) is going strong. I find the only things that work are to let her play independently for a while, wait for the singing to herself (it just started) and then slowly transition to the bedroom. More books, me singing to her, and playing a CD of lullabies ALL NIGHT LONG. It's on constant repeat and somehow that works. I think it gives her mind a place to focus and rest and then sleep.

 

DD's already been pegged as on the bright side of the spectrum and has never been an easy sleeper. She gave up naps at 18 months, and still only needs 8-10 hours of sleep a night, if that.

 

I'm glad to know I'm not alone. Most nights it's 11pm before this child is asleep. (Yawn!)

[Robin M]

James is turning into a night owl like his dad. Bedtime is 9:30, but he stays awake for hours. He's been told once we say prayers and I leave, no more questions, no coming out and inquiring what's on the tv or what we are doing or talking about. We finally bought an air cleaner for his room which cut down on the noise from the rest of the house, so he's not so tempted to be a part of the conversations.

 

He reads and writes after I leave. I usually stop him around 12:00. He can't sleep without his cat. If the cat decides she wants out, then he's sleepless for several hours. He usually gets up around 9:00 and we start lessons at 11:00 once hubby leaves for work. We have weird shop hours 11:00 to 7:30 so our schedule revolves around that. Some nights I'll go to bed and later hear him and hubby having a conversation about war, electronics, etc. Both their brains are more active in the evening. My husband however, he can fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

[Mandy in TN]

On the commiserating front I want to just want to send a :grouphug: and let you know that others have BTDT. When my oldest was a toddler and the second was a newborn, there were nights when I felt like I shouldn't have bothered taking off my clothes. I don't sleep much, but there was a period of time when I thought they must be in cahoots trying to do me in through sleep deprivation.

 

My 5 YO DD & 2.5 YO DS both take HOURS to fall asleep at night. It's not because they're not tired or need less sleep than average.

This sentence stands out for me. With my kids they simply didn't nap and didn't need to sleep as much as other kids. It sounds like you are saying that your kids need to sleep 10-13 hours in a 24 hour period, but they just don't want to sleep when you want them to. Instead of trying to put them to bed at a particular time have you tried waking them up at a certain time and letting the bedtime work itself out?

 

HTH-

Mandy

[MissKNG]

My very bright big girl (with at least 3 of Dabrowski's overexcitabilities) once told me that she can't sleep because "my brain doesn't stop moving."

[Denise in Florida]

My very bright big girl (with at least 3 of Dabrowski's overexcitabilities) once told me that she can't sleep because "my brain doesn't stop moving."

 

Yep, that is exactly what happens to my dd, only she is 20 now. The teen years were rough.

[MissKNG]

Yep, that is exactly what happens to my dd, only she is 20 now. The teen years were rough.

 

:svengo:

[Geo]

I do some of my best thinking while sleeping, but I don't have ADD. Is thinking while sleeping unusual?[/quote

 

 

Based on my converstions with others, I would say yes, it's unusual. Except for people like us, that is. :)

[Denise in Florida]

:svengo:

Sorry about that. :001_smile: We ended up with an awesome pediatrician that had her do everything from meditation to massage to melatonin (hey alliteration :tongue_smilie:). It did eventually help. It sounds like you are exploring these issues a lot earlier than we did. Good Luck.

[MissKNG]

Sorry about that. :001_smile: We ended up with an awesome pediatrician that had her do everything from meditation to massage to melatonin (hey alliteration :tongue_smilie:). It did eventually help. It sounds like you are exploring these issues a lot earlier than we did. Good Luck.

 

LOL! No worries! Exploring the issues....yes, only because I had no idea what I was dealing with (ie. all the quirks) and once I started looking into things, boy did stuff make sense! Lots of sense!

[Geo]

This has been the experience in our household also. DD has always been a good sleeper. DS is another story. As he lies in bed his mind starts generating all kinds of questions. An active day didn't help; dietary changes didn't help; routines didn't help; melatonin didn't help; even benadryl didn't help.

 

On one Christmas Eve he came in crying, afraid that his sister would be mad because he couldn't get to sleep and Santa Claus would not visit our house.

 

The one thing that has helped the most is that we put a VCR in his room so that he can watch movies. We realized that every time he tried to watch Star Wars he fell asleep. I know this is the opposite of all of the advice about getting kids to sleep. However, instead of getting overly stimulated mindless watching of a show seems to allow him to turn his brain off so that he can sleep. It has definitely made it easier for the rest of the family.

 

I think it works as "white noise" for some people, but not me unfortunately. Words are a huge trigger for me. New, unusual words can repeat in a loop-like fashion...like my brain is searching for a meaning to them...until I'm driven out of bed at like 4:45 a.m and look it up in the dictionary. I usually have no memory of ever having heard the word before, my brain just does this on it's own whim. :glare: As far as white noise...fans or humming sounds help.

[fairfarmhand]

my dh is a pretty sharp fellow and he has a hard time winding down at night. He must do some stuff to turn off his brain at night or he lies there figuring stuff out instead of sleeping.

 

My dd is sort of the same way.

 

The key for them is to start the wind down at a decent hour so by the time they actually get to sleep it is not too late.

 

My dh needs something decently mindless for a bit before bed (actually at least an hour, most of the time 2 hours) even then it can take him 30 minutes or more sometimes to drop off.

 

As opposed to me, who begins winding down around 6 pm and can drop off as soon as my head hits the pillow.

[LittleIzumi]

I think it works as "white noise" for some people, but not me unfortunately. Words are a huge trigger for me. New, unusual words can repeat in a loop-like fashion...like my brain is searching for a meaning to them...until I'm driven out of bed at like 4:45 a.m and look it up in the dictionary. I usually have no memory of ever having heard the word before, my brain just does this on it's own whim. :glare: As far as white noise...fans or humming sounds help.

 

I like to listen to the same thing so I know what words will come. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone audiobook is my usual, lol. It works!

 

Fans help me. It drives my husband crazy, but I love the fan.

 

My hubby needs a fan. A loud one. :glare::tongue_smilie:

[AK_Mom4]

My dh needs something decently mindless for a bit before bed (actually at least an hour, most of the time 2 hours) even then it can take him 30 minutes or more sometimes to drop off.

 

This is me. And most of my kids too. For the last 6-7 years, I have listened to Jim Dale reading the Harry Potter books. One after another, then I start over after I listen to the last one. It takes about an hour (1 cd) of listening before I go to sleep most nights. Poor DH has inadertantly memorized most of the books over the past few years.

 

DD10 likes Jim Dale's reading of the Peter Pan books. DS15 has graduated from audit books to night-time talk radio. DD17 has a playlist on her phone that she puts on a loop and listens to over and over at night.

[OLG]

My ds and I were just discussing his difficulty in getting to sleep when he was younger. Being the dutiful parent, I set a bedtime, 8PM, and stuck to it. It took FOREVER for him to get to sleep even after reading and stories etc. It was also always hard for him to wake up but being a good kid, he did. Flash forward and while I know teens sleep a lot, he says that he always had this internal clock that was set apart from the normal school/working hours. Now, he goes to bed really, really late and falls asleep in 10 minutes plus wakes up easily. He was born late at night so maybe that has something to do with it? ;) He is extremely bright but I tend to think it was more his own internal clock than anything else. Not good when Mom's clock is set differently though!

[caedmyn]

Yes they do need an average amount of sleep, not less than average. I think maybe a longer-than-usual wind-down might help. DD does go to sleep earlier & easier if I don't make her take a nap, though she does get kind of weepy without one so I think she could still use one at least some of the time. I sometimes have trouble shutting down my brain to fall asleep, though at this point I'm generally so tired I fall asleep quickly. I also tend to have a really hard time shutting off my brain & falling back asleep in the middle of the night after I get woken up by the baby (after about 4-5 hours of sleep that is). I try to think of something pretty mindless like counting or something to go back to sleep. DH can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and totally does not understand why the rest of us can't. He says the kids will go to sleep when they are tired...HAH! Not.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I don't know about the correlation to brightness but I think some kids just have trouble turning off their brains. I think all that quiet and dark allows them to keep thinking about all sorts of things with no distractions.

 

I have one child like this-I allow the use of audio books at bed time to help distract the brain and allow it to have a relaxing focus. It does seem to help. Of course for some kids it might keep them up--I guess you have to be willing to experiment a little.

[nmoira]

I have a little OOP book from Dandy Lion with a number of progressive relaxation exercises that are a tremendous help to DD the Elder at bedtime. We use some of its other exercises to help contain anxiety.

 

Mindscape (used at Amazon).

[Denise in Florida]

This is me. And most of my kids too. For the last 6-7 years, I have listened to Jim Dale reading the Harry Potter books. One after another, then I start over after I listen to the last one. It takes about an hour (1 cd) of listening before I go to sleep most nights. Poor DH has inadertantly memorized most of the books over the past few years.

 

DD10 likes Jim Dale's reading of the Peter Pan books. DS15 has graduated from audit books to night-time talk radio. DD17 has a playlist on her phone that she puts on a loop and listens to over and over at night.

 

We love Jim Dale. His voice is particularly suited for reading aloud. Both of my girls loved listening to him read Harry Potter as they tried to sleep. We wore out the tape sets and bought the whole series on CD.:lol:

[Marie in Oh]

I have no idea about a correlation, but none of my children have ever required as much sleep as other kids I know. All of mine were down to 1 nap by 9 months, and dropped naps all together shortly after 2. If they do take a nap they will be up until 11 or later(I have been up with my 3 year old at 12am before because she had a nap). I always read about kids on forums taking 3 hr naps, and then going to bed at 7:00 at night or something crazy like that. I just got my youngest to sleep through the night and he is 19 months old.

 

All have dropped morning naps before 1 and all naps by 2. It is so frustrating. I have friends whose kids come home from Kindergarten and take naps. Seriously? And then they go to bed at 7:30. Not here. Our littlest is the worst. He routinely sleeps from 9:30 to 6:30. 9 hours deoesn't seem like enough. But that's what he gets. If he happens to take a nap in the car, it is closer to 10:30 before he's out. Can be rather frustrating.

[ChristusG]

Funny that this thread was started today. I just replied earlier that bedtime had gotten better. So tonight, about an hour or so after being put to bed, my 7 year old came out and asked if she could stay up if she was quiet and stayed to herself (she knows that night time is mommy's time to herself). So now she sits, playing with her iPod Touch and taking care of her plush Webkinz hamsters. :glare:

[Mommy22alyns]

Becca's a pretty bright little girl and has always had trouble sleeping. She didn't sleep through the night on any consistent basis until she was 1. She cannot shut her brain down. She has to be alone and have white noise to go to sleep - if there's anyone else in the room, she's talking. *sigh*

 

Now Sylvia, I consider her to be as bright and she doesn't have so much trouble sleeping. Again, she's been that way since birth. As long as she has someone to snuggle against, she's out.

[Forget-Me-Not]

I have no idea about a correlation, but none of my children have ever required as much sleep as other kids I know.

 

This was the case for 2 of my 3. My oldest was a great sleeper. Slept long periods at night and took great naps.

 

Then my middle child came along, and I didn't think I would survive her babyhood. We co-slept out of sheer desperation. She wouldn't nap during the day at all, even as a very tiny infant. It would take HOURS to settle her at night. DH, bless his heart, took on that job. It usually involved at least an hour of rocking, and he had this complicated process of s-l-o-w-l-y transferring her to her bed where he took 15 minutes to move the 3 feet from the chair to the bed (no joke). She turned into an entirely different kid when she became verbal and immediately started articulating exactly what she wanted and exactly why she was upset with us. I remember when we could finally lay her down awake (at age 3) I wanted to weep with joy.

 

Our third slept better, but shortened her naps dramatically around age one and gave them up entirely at 18 months. Now if she takes a nap, she's up until really late. And, at 2.5, she doesn't always sleep through the night, and often crawls in with us.

 

My very bright big girl (with at least 3 of Dabrowski's overexcitabilities) once told me that she can't sleep because "my brain doesn't stop moving."

 

I'd never heard of these, but just looked them up, and WOW it's like reading all about my middle daughter.

[LibraryLover]

My kids don't have trouble falling asleep, they just don't need a boatload of sleep. Even my boy teens didn't/ don't sleep in.

[LittleIzumi]

This was the case for 2 of my 3. My oldest was a great sleeper. Slept long periods at night and took great naps.

 

Then my middle child came along, and I didn't think I would survive her babyhood. We co-slept out of sheer desperation. She wouldn't nap during the day at all, even as a very tiny infant. It would take HOURS to settle her at night. DH, bless his heart, took on that job. It usually involved at least an hour of rocking, and he had this complicated process of s-l-o-w-l-y transferring her to her bed where he took 15 minutes to move the 3 feet from the chair to the bed (no joke). She turned into an entirely different kid when she became verbal and immediately started articulating exactly what she wanted and exactly why she was upset with us. I remember when we could finally lay her down awake (at age 3) I wanted to weep with joy.

 

Our third slept better, but shortened her naps dramatically around age one and gave them up entirely at 18 months. Now if she takes a nap, she's up until really late. And, at 2.5, she doesn't always sleep through the night, and often crawls in with us.

 

 

 

I'd never heard of these, but just looked them up, and WOW it's like reading all about my middle daughter.

 

Yep, sounds like dd3. Who is still up. Again. At about 10:30. Bedtime is 8. :glare: She's never been a good sleeper. Even as a baby she would nap maybe once for 45 min all day. She still doesn't sleep through the night most nights.

 

Help. :lol:

[Night Elf]

My family is all over the place. Because of the nature of the thread being a correlation between 'bright' and sleeping, I'll admit that we (my family) all have an IQ in the gifted range.

 

DH has always been a great sleeper. The man drives me bonkers! He likes to go to bed at 10pm, he falls asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow, and sleeps hard all night long. He needs about 8 hrs. a night.

 

I have always hated going to sleep. I have ADD and my brain is always going full blast. When I lay down, I have absolutely nothing to focus on except my thoughts and I cannot relax. My doctor prescribed sleeping pills but they don't help. That boggles my DH's mind. I sleep about 6 hours each night, if I'm lucky.

 

Dd19 has always been a good sleeper. No problems. Her nights are crazy so I have no idea how much she sleeps.

 

Ds14 has the same sleep issues I have. He's been prescribed the same medicine as me, Trazodone, and it doesn't affect him either. He falls asleep somewhere between 2am and 3am and would sleep 12+ hours if he could. I've been working on getting him up earlier. Noon is our current goal.

 

Dd13 has never had a problem sleeping either. She does have music playing all night. She will sleep about 10 - 11 hours a night.