Sometimes My Daughter Had Trouble Falling Asleep

A friend of mine swears by essential oils for helping her kids fall asleep. I've never tried them because scents like that are too concentrated and give me a raging headache. Someone else might be able to tell you more.

Oh who doesn't have trouble falling asleep the night before a test? Test are nerve racking!

I usually try to read a book. That really does help me relax and fall asleep. If she enjoys reading maybe you could pick out a book that would keep her attention and distract her from her worries.

Our youngest recently started taking Melatonin at night, and it is amazing!!! He has ADHD and was having trouble settling down. He and his brother share a room, so now he sometimes turns to his brother and tells him to please hurry up and climb into bed so he can sleep!

My son even takes a very low dose - 1 mg. It's completely natural and worth a try.

Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep when I'm feeling anxious. What I do if I haven't fallen asleep in 30 minutes is to turn the light on and read a calming book. I've also taken Melatonin. Both help. It's normal to have sleepless nights once in awhile. It's normal for your daughter to be anxious.

I suggest you pay as little attention as possible to the anxiety because focusing on it makes one more anxious. Help her study in a casual way. Instead of saying she'll do good, tell her being anxious is OK. When you tell her she'll do good when she doesn't feel that way creates more anxiety. I suggest that acknowledging and empathizing with her fear will begin to help her have more confidence. I suggest you say something like "I know you'll figure this out" or "I know you feel anxious about this test. I have confidence that you'll be OK." When what you say fits with her perspective she may gradually change on her own when she experiences success over time.

One of mine gets worked up sometimes before sleep and has a hard time drifting off. I agree with Gidget - Melatonin worked for us. We got it before summer camp so that they could sleep when the lights went off. It really helped. Our doctor recommended it.

One thing I do if my kids are stressed and can't sleep - only on rare occasions - I let them come watch TV with me in bed for half an hour. It's not so much the TV as hanging with mom I think that relaxes them. Then they head on back to bed when they are drowsy and tend to drift right off. I'd rather they did that then lay there stressing for hours in their bed staring at the walls.

Good luck :)

Sounds like anxiety and I would work with her on finding calming techniques for pre-bedtime when she is worried about a test. My SD often found a long shower or bath to be helpful in getting to sleep.

Try not to focus on the anxiety which ramps it up in her mind.

I have a high anxiety child ( now 20) and still anxious when testing and in 2nd year of college. She has maintained a freaking 4.0 since high school and just gets wired when it's test time. She needs her study time with no one interrupting but sleep as well.

She has used Simply Sleep ( I have as well) and it has been good.

Good luck... No fun. Right now!

That's a normal type of thing that usually happens to everyone on occasion. I just tell my kid he doesn't have to sleep, he just has to lay quietly in the dark and think to himself. Eventually he falls asleep without realizing he did. Don't make a big deal about it. Thinking about not sleeping just makes it harder to sleep.

are you SURE she's going to do well on the test? i'm not at all convinced that just puffing hot air at our kids is good for their confidence at all.
you can't force sleep. i would encourage her to take a warm bath, and spray her pillow with lavender or valerian (go light on the valerian, too much smells like sweat socks!), and read herself to sleep.
khairete
S.

Sounds like mild anxiety.
Bath, warm decaf tea with milk & sugar.

She might be old enough to look into self hypnosis/relaxation techniques.