https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 12 Apr 2026 08:05:50 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919207 Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:32:42 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2919207@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Portboston: check out theworkspaceforchildren on Instagram. Her entire account and work is dedicated to kid independence. My only child 7 year old and very NOT independent and her tips have helped me a lot (though we're still a work in progress). Sleep has been a huge issue for us too. Ironically what helped is getting her a loft bed because it means we can't lie down with her anymore. We did sit in her room for a while but recently she's been doing OK on her own so fingers crossed it sticks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919199 Wed, 23 Sep 2020 11:03:34 +0000 Portboston 2919199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Grace: Yea totally. I have pushed it up to 8/8:30 but Ill still get the same issue. I think I need to get him in the habit of doing something independently in his room until he is tired. Like @ALV91711: I dont care if he's asleep, I just want him in his room doing something quietly!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919190 Wed, 23 Sep 2020 06:57:38 +0000 Grace 2919190@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Portboston: I’m glad it worked! Another thing to consider is that bedtime (7:30 especially) might just be too early for him. If he isn’t sleepy, he’s more likely to neeeeeeeeeed you. That’s what I found for my kid, anyways. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919189 Wed, 23 Sep 2020 05:05:50 +0000 HappyBaker 2919189@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Portboston: yay for a good night! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919188 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 23:42:19 +0000 peaches1038 2919188@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Portboston: yay!!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919184 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 22:32:19 +0000 ALV91711 2919184@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My DS1 is 7.5 and can be a pain at bedtime if he’s not tired. Even tonight he wandered out after an hour for one more hug!!</p> <p>Around 5 we started letting him read when he went to bed. He still does most nights. I don’t really care how long it takes for him to fall asleep as long as he’s in bed and quiet. He’s usually asleep within the hour. In the summer when we were home and he was outside most of the day he went right to sleep. </p> <p>Hope your chart works!! I like how you are doing it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919183 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 22:09:27 +0000 Portboston 2919183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m so glad I made this post!!! Ok keep in mind he did get some cough meds tonight so I’m sure that helped but...</p> <p>I made a sticker calendar so he can earn a sticker for every night he’s at my house and each sticker is worth $1. He can save up for whatever he wants (teaching money management skills And sleep 😂). Also did the mediation app And gave him a “mom card” which allowed him to call me in once without loosing his sticker. Asleep in a half hour without calling me in one time! Let’s see if he stays put. Thank you for all your advice. I hope I can keep this up. You ladies are the bees knees!!!</p> <p>Off to read a book in peace and quiet!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919182 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 19:42:03 +0000 misolee 2919182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 4.5 year old son took/takes forever to fall asleep. Some things that helped...after dinner, we take a brief walk up and down the street. It wears him out a little. Also his bedtime used to be 7:30 but now it’s close to 8:30 bc he would lie there for an hour. Now at 8:30, he falls asleep pretty quickly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919175 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 14:04:39 +0000 caitcat 2919175@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 5.5 year old has been the worst with sleep lately...we've gone through rough patches with sleep all along with her, but since the spring it's gone SO downhill with trouble falling asleep, saying she's scared of X, Y, or Z, waking up in the middle of the night. So no advice, but lots of commiseration!</p> <p>She's taken off with reading lately and I thought that reading quietly in bed might help her wind down at night...but it's like it's had the opposite effect - she stays up way too long reading and won't settle to sleep any better. Ahh! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919172 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 13:09:17 +0000 wrkbrk 2919172@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Portboston: A sticker chart like someone else mentioned has done the trick for us. Every Friday my son gets a small toy for staying in bed all week and not whining about going down! Hell he five in 2 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919170 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 13:00:12 +0000 agold 2919170@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Portboston: I'm so sorry. My kinds are only 2 and 4, but I know I'm headed your direction with my 2 yo. I'm so sorry. Beyond cry it out for babies, I just don't know. Sucks my second girl had a respiratory disorder and I couldn't bring myself to do cry it out for her. So here I am. I will say that I like the idea of a little night light and a book. Maybe a tiny flashlight he can play with. I will seriously do anything for my kids to just be in their bed for a few hours at night so that I can do whatever it is I need or want to do in silence. Good luck. :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919168 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 12:51:38 +0000 Portboston 2919168@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@peaches1038: I’m going to try the sleep app tonight!!!!<br /> @HappyBaker: I like the idea of letting him “read” until he’s tired. I need to get a new lightbulb for his lamp that’s on his nightstand. Maybe I’ll do that today. He’s not independent at all so I’m not sure if this one will work but I’m willing to try!!</p> <p>@graceandjoy: Waaaaah 😭 so over it. </p> <p>Thank you all for your suggestions and commiseration. I appreciate it 😘 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919156 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 09:37:15 +0000 graceandjoy 2919156@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 5.5 year old is similar! She takes a long time to fall asleep and still wakes up at night looking for us. She always says she's "scared" and we've talked about it, implemented things to "help" like night light, leaving the door open a little, okay to wake clocks, etc... I fell off the EO wagon for a while but I gotta start diffusing some calming/sleepy blends again to see if it helps (we dis before and didn't notice much difference, hah). </p> <p>So absolutely no advice but commiseration. My 3.5 year old sleeps better than her! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919153 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 06:09:01 +0000 HappyBaker 2919153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh man I feel you. My older 2 are 5 and 8 and I feel like just in the last year has bedtime become not miserable for me. Things we’ve tried that worked pretty well - a sticker chart where they got a sticker for basically just not being a pain at bedtime, with a big reward like somewhere to go together, a get out of bed once pass where they knew they could ask for help only once after bedtime, and for my 5 year old, getting him a reading light and just letting him look at a book if he’s not ready for sleep, with him knowing the parents are DONE after we tuck him in. I also feel like my 5 year old needs a certain amount of physical activity or he’s too wound up to go to bed, so we sometimes take a walk up a giant hill in our neighborhood if it’s one of those days. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919149 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 00:50:08 +0000 peaches1038 2919149@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That sounds so so tough! My guy will be 5 in November and has been having a harder time falling asleep lately and I’ve been laying with him. But as much as I enjoy the snuggles, I have stuff to do or I just want to sit by myself for a bit! We’ve had really good luck with the moshi sleep app. I started out doing a whole sleep story with him and he would almost always fall asleep while I rubbed his back. If he talks, I turn it off until he’s quiet again. Now I do a relaxing moment with him, which are short (5-6 min) meditations and then I leave and turn on a sleep stories. I think it’s so helpful bc it gives him something to focus on and they are very relaxing. Good luck! It’s so exhausting! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-woes-5-year-old#post-2919148 Tue, 22 Sep 2020 00:11:08 +0000 Portboston 2919148@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>IM SO OVER SLEEP BATTLES. </p> <p>My 5 year old has always been a crap sleeper but I’m just f’ing over it!!! He takes FOREVER to fall asleep and will whine and cry if I don’t sit in his room, on his bed, rubbing his back or cuddling with him. He’s in bed by 7:30/8 every night but typically doesn’t fall asleep for anywhere from 15 min to an hour and a half..., no naps and wakes up between 6:30/7am. I try to hold out but eventually I cave because I just don’t want to deal with the whining and I have some lingering guilt about ending my marriage a year ago. (I’m so grateful for 50/50 custody!!!) I just want an hour of peace and quiet!!!!<br /> on top of it my son just had his 4th COVID test today because any time he gets a slight cold/cough he can’t be in preschool unless he gets a negative test. I totally get it but we just had a week and a half of heavy smoke and hazardous air quality so like...clearly that’s the issue here because half of the kids are out with a “cold”. (We’re in portland or)</p> <p>Having a super frustrating day today. Sleep tips welcome! </p>