Dd13 having trouble sleeping.

[Mynyel]

She has been complaining of this for awhile. Is this normal? I don't remember having trouble sleeping unless my parents had the TV up to loud:glare:.

 

She is active... she has started training for cross country and does karate 3-4 nights a week.

 

Short of taking her to the Dr, which right now seems not right, are they any suggestions? I was thinking of picking up some melatonin and trying that. Any experiences with it?

[The Girls' Mom]

:bigear:

 

My oldest has had trouble for a long time....interested to see what suggestions there might be.

[claire up north]

When she says she has trouble sleeping, what does this mean?

 

Is it hard for her to get to sleep initially? Does she wake up frequently but is able to go back to sleep? Does she wake up and then cannot go back to sleep? Does she fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning and then sleep very late?

 

When she is having trouble, what does she think the problem is? Does she have racing thoughts? Is she worried about something? Is her body uncomfortable?

 

Does she nap during the day? Does she seem tired?

 

Sorry to just post a bunch of questions, but this is where I'd start. :)

[gingersmom]

I would first look at the reasons why she can't sleep before you give her melatonin or anything else.

 

Are there changes in her life? New friends? New school?

 

13 can be a very complicated age for kids.

[jamajo]

Is there a ritual or some activity before bed that may contribute to this?

Books she is reading?

TV shows she is watching?

[Pippen]

Have you removed all forms of caffiene from her diet?

[AngieW in Texas]

I've tried just about everything with my youngest (now 13yo). She started having sleep issues about 3 years ago. She has NO caffeine. We have a pretty good sleep routine (that is completely disrupted by my dh when a football game he wants to watch is on tv). She takes zyrtec every night (used to take benadryl, but that stopped working for her). She takes melatonin as well when things are bad.

 

I do everything I can to make the two hours before bed as calm as possible (doesn't work when dh has the tv turned up as loud as it will go and is jumping up and yelling and clapping at the tv).

 

Our routine is to watch a show at 8:45 (Eureka or Burn Notice or Warehouse 13 or Cupcake Wars or Leverage currently) and then work on a jigsaw puzzle for about 30 minutes and then she gets started with getting ready for bed. This gets completely disrupted when dh is watching football like he was last night. He can't seem to understand that it's difficult to get to sleep when the tv is turned up all the way and he keeps yelling at it.

 

Can you tell I'm a little upset about the game he watched last night? It would have been okay if he'd kept the volume down, but he never does.

[Pippen]

A sleep study will sometimes reveal conditions like Restless Leg Syndrome that kids especially aren't even aware of but are highly disruptive to sleep.

[Mynyel]

When she says she has trouble sleeping, what does this mean?

 

Is it hard for her to get to sleep initially? Yes

 

Does she wake up frequently but is able to go back to sleep? Sometimes

 

Does she wake up and then cannot go back to sleep? Sometimes

 

Does she fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning and then sleep very late? Sometimes

 

When she is having trouble, what does she think the problem is? She doesn't know.

 

Does she have racing thoughts? Umm don't know if it is considered racing but she says her mind is active.

 

Is she worried about something? Yes, dh wants to move and she doesn't.

 

Is her body uncomfortable? Only during cycle time :001_smile:

 

Does she nap during the day? No, but she doesn't do much but read all day.

 

Does she seem tired? Yes.

 

Sorry to just post a bunch of questions, but this is where I'd start. :)

 

I would first look at the reasons why she can't sleep before you give her melatonin or anything else.

 

Are there changes in her life? No New friends? No New school? No, lol we homeschool silly! :tongue_smilie:

 

13 can be a very complicated age for kids.

 

Is there a ritual or some activity before bed that may contribute to this? No

Books she is reading? She is always reading.

TV shows she is watching? No, we don't watch much TV and not in the evening at any rate.

 

Have you removed all forms of caffiene from her diet? Yes

 

A sleep study will sometimes reveal conditions like Restless Leg Syndrome that kids especially aren't even aware of but are highly disruptive to sleep. I thought of that and mentioned it to her, she said she doesn't feel anything like it.

 

Hope those answers help :)

[claire up north]

Well, I'd start by cutting back on the reading and bumping up the serious physical activity. I know you said that she was training for cross country and also does karate, but I would have her do more. Late morning or afternoon...don't want it to be too close to bedtime.

 

Also, you might try some natural sleep-friendly foods. You know... warm milk, decaf tea with honey, bananas, etc.

 

I'd try to prevent sleeping in until you get this licked.

 

I'm not a big fan of meds for this age group--too many changes happening in those little bodies already. If, however, these changes don't make a noticeable difference in a week, then I'd try something just to see if it helped.

 

Oh, yeah, you might try some meditation tapes. My kids conk out with those.

 

Good luck!