Stephanie wrote:
> My son is very often tired. I am a firm believer in the im****tance of
sleep!
> I think the main problem is that his mind is always thinking and moving.
He
> has a hard time stilling his mind. He will lay awake in bed playing in
his
> head all sorts of pretend games.
>
> One thing that definitely helps is HARD physical exercise throughout the
> day. And we are working to increase this further.
>
> Another thing I thought would help if we were able to learn some
meditaton
> skills. I don't really know much about meditation. So I guess I have to
have
> a clue before introducing it. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to
> proceed or other helpful ideas for sleep? Once asleep, he has no
trouble.
> But *falling* asleep is a problem for him, especially now that he is a
> little older.
Are you sure falling asleep is a *problem* or do you just mean it takes
him some time?
The worst thing you can do with a falling asleep problem is to worry
about it. Some people do genuinely take a little time to fall asleep -
20 minutes is perfectly normal, or even longer.
Worrying about not-being-asleep-yet turns into a vicious circle, which
keeps you awake.
I don't think pretend games are a problem, as long as they are all in
his head. Alternative methods are the old favourite of counting sheep
(or footballs, or just numbers). Variations are counting up to ten, and
then restarting from zero. Or counting backwards from some number. Or
doing sums.
--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three
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