How do you return to regular sleep?

[netmouse]

Rosie has been sick on and off for weeks. With the latest flu, this past weekend, she took to sleep ping long hours in the daytime then being up late at night, unable to get to sleep p. I am our semi official on call late /middle of the night person, because B turns into a zombie in disrupted sleep conditions, and he was already obviously catching the flu. I adapted by also taking a longer nap in the middle of the day. It feels a little like I'm serving on a submarine, doing short shifts, instead of having normal length days.

Yesterday when I got home from running early evening errands, Brian apologeticaly told me he had kept her awake as long as he could but she was asleep in the Guest room. so I was not surprised when she woke up hungry at 11. I got her ready for bed and fetched her a banana and her meds, including 3 MG of melatonin. I also brought up a fresh batch of library books. She read for a bit, then settled down. I ribbed her feet and legs, which have been hurting. Then I turned off the light. she asked me to sing, so I did. I got back to me own bedroom at 2 am.

How do we get her back to normal?

Comments

[voidampersand]

The times in my life when my sleep schedule has been normal and well-adjusted coincided with sleeping in rooms with large eastward facing windows with no curtains. I rose with the sun and went about my day. When I sleep in a room without sunlight I tend to be more of a night-owl.

[netmouse]

Her bedroom and ours are both East-Facing. I've had the same experience as yours. :)

[dreamshark]

Sorry to hear that Rosie has been sick, which kind of sounds like the basic problem. Just a little concerned about the feet and legs hurting because of what happened with 10-year-old Thorin (back in 1990). The leg pain that was increasingly waking him up at night was brushed off by the doctor as "a virus" until it turned out to be a life-threatening staph infection in his hip. I thought the virus explanation was nonsense, and sure enough, it was. But that was just one leg. If it's both legs, maybe viruses really can cause aching legs? But maybe check her temperature in the evening to make sure she's not running a low-grade fever. Just in case. I sympathize with Rosie, as I am also kept awake by aching legs because I'm sort of old. It does make it hard to sleep.

It probably isn't all that helpful to point out that at least in your case there is a nice "normal" to go back to where your child actually sleeps through the night. But if that's the case, try to feel lucky. My darling granddaughter (now 4 years old) never really does. Her sleep-loving parents have come up with all sorts of adaptive rituals and policies that apparently work fairly well until Grandpa and Grandma come to visit. Then little Lena gets so excited that it all falls apart and she reverts to a sleep pattern not terribly different from what poor Rosie is experiencing right now.

Here are some possible tips from watching Lena's whole bedtime drama evolve over 4 years.

Keeping over-tired child awake all day in the hopes that she will fall asleep at bedtime usually backfires. If there is any method that will let her take a short nap during the day without falling into deep sleep, use it. Maybe lie down with her, or let her nap while listening to music?

Even if she is obviously not ready for sleep at bedtime, try to get her into bed at the usual time anyway, but let her stay up and read or play quietly until she is ready for sleep. Sounds like she is capable of doing that. Similarly, if she is waking up at night help her find a ritual for settling herself down without waking you up. Some kids really don't sleep for 8 hours straight. When I was 4 or 5 my little sister and I used to wake up in the middle of the night and sneak down to the living room to play Peter Pan for an hour or so before going back to bed. We thought we were getting away with something, so it was fun and we were very quiet.

If she can't sleep because she is really that sick or uncomfortable, consider letting her sleep part of the night in your bed, or at least in your room. She probably will go back to her usual schedule on her own when she feels better.

[netmouse]

Thank you for the tips and comments. We are back to a more normal schedule now. A visit with her mental health counselor helped a lot. And we have shifted to letting her keep reading to herself for longer, letting her evaluate when is time to put the book down and try sleeping.

I need to stick to my guns about getting her to try to go to sleep without hearing my voice (reading or singing) at the same time, but I'm trying!

[dagibbs]

I wish I had a good solution for this - I have problems with returning to a normal sleep pattern after illness has disrupted my sleep, too.

[netmouse]

hmm. good point.

[spikethemuffin]

Seconded on the ritual. Does she know how to meditate? Or lying quietly in the dark and listening (the same) three or four songs with descending BPM can bring about a sleepy mood, especially if someone is there breathing with her. Also, let her know that pretending to sleep is about 70% as effective as sleeping, she's old enough to use that as a sleep substitute.