My 4-year-old is struggling to fall asleep.
My 4-year-old is struggling a lot with sleep and I’m at a loss.
We don’t give her sugar and little to no screen time. No screen time in the evening. She gets lots of physical activity during the day and we have a consistent bedtime routine. Despite this, she takes a very loooong time to fall asleep, often very late at night (11 pm +++)! She doesn’t get enough sleep.
At bedtime, she avoids brushing her teeth, delays everything, and keeps talking nonstop. She often says she is not tired and just wants to play. overall, bedtime feels very stressful and exhausting. She also tends to use repeated “stalling” behaviors like wanting more water, more talking, more bathroom, must rearrange toys, etc.
Once she finally falls asleep, she sleeps through the night.
I’m really worried about her and what might be going on. There is some history of stress in our family. When she was a baby, there were a few incidents where my mother came over and screamed in front of my daughter. I’m wondering if this could have had an impact on her.
From what I can tell, she is a social butterfly, communicative, and seems happy during the day. I don’t see obvious signs of neurodivergence, but I also know I’m not an expert.
Has anyone experienced something similar with a 4-year-old? What has helped? Are we just in a bad phase?
Thanks.