unusual situation...

[UmmInayah]

hi there,

my little girl is almost 3. she used to do this thing where she rocks back and forth to help herself go to sleep. by doing this, she is asleep within 5 mins. lately however, she has stopped doing this and keeps telling me "i don't know how to sleep" so she will be awake for hours on end before bed. even when she is completely exhausted.

she has naps some days, others she doesn't. on the days she naps she is asleep by 8:30, otherwise she is asleep by 6:30, usually.

so now even when she doesn't nap she is wake until 8. i have tried massage, getting her to relax etc by singing, reading books.. i am just at a loss as to what to do. how do you teach someone to sleep??

[Beck13]

I used to use sleep music, well thats what we called it but it was just classical music or you can actually buy cd's especially for children/babies sleep time. I would put it on and tell my ds to lay there and listen to the beautiful music and he would drift off in no time.

[peanutbutter&jelly]

My Mum used to relax with me, and teach me to tighten my muscles, toes up, kind of like this -

http://www.yourfamilyclinic.com/adhd/relax.htm

at first, so I learnt kind of how to tense each area, then we'd just go toes up, eyes closed and then visualisation. She'd describe usually a peaceful beach or a warm day in high detail and in a really relaxed tone and I'd usually drift off.
I still visualise and use muscle tightening techniques now to fall to sleep sometimes :goodvibes:

[UmmInayah]

thanks for the suggestions :)

i have tried music with her before when she was younger, but she wasn't into it. i also tried those muscle tightening exercises with her too (learnt it in drama class) - she wasn't willing to co-operate, but now that she is asking how to sleep, i might give it a go again.

thanks again!