Ideally, a child's sleeping habits should be stabilized from an early age. However, there are some children who begin to demonstrate irregular sleeping habits as they get older. If your eight-year-old is having trouble falling asleep, adhering to a predetermined bedtime, or staying inside his or her room for the duration of the night, take a look at the following suggestions.
Explain
Although younger children may not have yet developed the mental capacity to grasp certain abstract concepts like biochemistry or the importance of adequate sleep, your eight-year-old is much more likely to understand why there are rules in place about bedtime if you explain the rationale behind these rules. If your child wants to know why he or she needs to go to bed at a certain hour, you need to explain with them the importance of sleep and "recharging" his or her "batteries." More often than not, explaining things in terms that they can understand will only increase their chances of comprehension.
Monitor Diet
An individual's diet and nutritional levels has a lot to do with his or her ability to fall asleep and stay asleep at night. If an individual consumes large amounts of sugar or caffeine before bed, it may be increasingly difficult to fall asleep. Therefore, if your child is having trouble going to sleep at bedtime, be sure that you keep a close eye on his or her diet. Try to eliminate caffeine and sugary drinks like sodas or certain juices (especially in the hours before bed).
Consider More Exercise
If your child's nutrition and diet have nothing to do with his or her inability or unwillingness to go to sleep at night, this additional energy may be due to a lack of exercise. Children need exercise in order to dispel excess energy. Encourage your child to join an afterschool sport or activity that can essentially wear them out throughout the day. Otherwise, take your child for a walk after dinner or engage in some physical activity with them during the afternoon or early evening. The goal is to make a conscious effort to ensure that your child is physically exhausted by the time that bedtime rolls around so that going to bed is no longer an issue but a welcomed time for rest.
APPROPRIATE ATTENTION Furthermore, it is important for parents to consider the fact that the issue may not just be an unwillingness or incapability to go to bed, it may just be a child's attempts to seek attention. Are you spending long hours at work? Has there been a dramatic change in your family life recently? If your child is attempting to seek attention from you, reading to them before bed may help them to go to sleep. Otherwise, make a ritual of "tucking them in" and talking to them for a few minutes before bed. This may just provide them with the attention they are seeking and allow them to quell their fears and go to sleep more easily.
Discipline
Parents set bedtimes for their children so that they can ensure that their kids get an adequate amount of sleep and rest. If a child is still being rebellious and unwilling to go to bed at a certain time or stay in his or her room throughout the night, then you need to consider varying your methods of discipline. Each child is different and every situation is unique, but the bottom line is that parents need to find a disciplinary strategy that works well for them and their child. Kids need to know that when it is time for bed it is time for bed. Regardless of whether he or she falls asleep right away, your child needs to be in his or her room and in bed at bedtime pr else he/she will have to face the consequences of breaking the bedtime rule.
Ignore your child's pleading, yelling, or requests to leave his or her room. More likely than not, your child will be frustrated if you try to a disciplinary technique that is dramatically different from what he or she may be used to. If he or she continues to misbehave, calmly let them know that if the inappropriate behavior continues, he or she will lose a privilege (like TV time) or a valued object (like a particular toy).
Be Consistent
Disciplinary techniques will not work if you are not consistent. Your child needs to know that if he or she does something inappropriate, there will be consequences. Therefore, the most important thing you can do is to be consistent with your efforts to shape his or her behavior. If there are times when you allow him or her to come out of the room or stay up past his/her bedtime while other times you adhere to your rules, you are essentially sending mixed signals. Consistency is key to effective discipline.
Seek Medical Attention
If your child still does not go to bed or is incapable of sleeping through the night, there may be larger underlying issues that need to be dealt with. Perhaps he or she is suffering from nightmares or some sort of phobia. Whatever the case, you may be able to get help if you speak to a family counselor or a child therapist. Sometimes, talking about the issue with an unbiased third party who is trained in dealing with children can help shed light on a seemingly insurmountable parenting challenge.
In summary, all children are different and each child may require different amounts of discipline, exercise, or attention in order for them to establish healthy sleeping patterns. However, it is crucial for parents to remain consistent in their strategies in order to ensure efficiency when they are attempting to get their kids to adhere to a bedtime or sleep throughout the night.