Penny Gaines wrote:
> 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 problem is that he is later tired during the day. Yawning, rubbing
eyes,
emotional...
> 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.
>
Well 20 minutes would be a joy beyond belief! Longer... on an order of
magnitude is what we are dealing with.
> Worrying about not-being-asleep-yet turns into a vicious circle, which
> keeps you awake.
>
How would you suggest limiting his worry? He gets no angst out of me. I am
not there in his bed.
> 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.
I am going to get him to add when he is 7 and wants to have fantasy games
in
his head? I don't understand that.
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