Posted by chicago mom on August 12, 2009 at 06:24:18:Thank you for posting this. I have a daughter who is almost 7. She has never slept well. At four she had selective mutism but she got over it through therapy. She has behavioral issues at home and in school.
She rarely goes to sleep in her own bed. Her bedroom is with three other sisters, 14, 11, and 1.5. Her bed is a trundle that doesn't go up. But even now when one of her sisters is away at camp and she could sleep in her bed, she still doesn't go to sleep. Eventually she usually falls asleep in my bed, which she also wets often. Sometimes I move her to her own bed but she may wake up and then scream or sometimes she sleeps on the floor. Sometimes I just fall asleep, too.
At bedtime she goes nuts. She runs away from me and jumps all around with incredible nervous energy. She teases her siblings and I feel like just giving up with her. It's like that "bedtime routine" is just upsetting her and then me. I feel like it's my fault. "If only I would do the same thing every night she would be better." Her therapist made two charts with her and she destroyed both.
I am at my witt's end and so is my daughter. She asks me "What's wrong with me? How come I can't go to sleep?" This is like at midnight or later when she's so so tired. Any advice?