What do your kids do to settle at night?

[BrightSparkles]

Have you tried magnesium spray?

Whats this? I never heard of it....

[~Minny~]

Subbing as well, DD is still an energiser at 4 and just doesnt have an off switch!

[Miss.B]

I add a couple of drops of lavender to DS's bath, that seems to sooth him. He's now 2 and during the day he doesn't sit still, and instead of walking anywhere he runs. Oh the joys of an energiser bunny! I find these days that if he misses his day sleep, he goes to sleep at night fairly quickly. I he has a day sleep, he takes about an hour to an hour and a half to fall asleep, sometimes longer. All I want to do is do my own relaxing after a full day running after him! Don't know if I was of any help....sorry!

[onthefly]

I'd steer clear of computers and TVs as much as possible, especially in the afternoon.
DS loves books. He reads stories with daddy before bed. However, he used to take aaaaaages to sleep and was extremely restless and nothing really seemed to help him, but seems to have mostly grown out of it.
Maybe also think about diet? some additives cause wakefulness I think?

[danita]

im starting to make little sleep boxes its a shoe box with a lid that can be decorated however you like, in the box can be a few different things, like a hand held mirror, a dim torch, a little book or some scrap silky material or whatever your child may like. This is supposed to allow the child something to do instead of lying in bed trying to fall asleep. you can vary the things in the box every other day or week. when the child has had enough they can then roll over and go to sleep. of course the things in the box would vary due to age. i have not tried this myself yet but alot of educators through my family day care are using with day naps and are having success

just an idea ...

[fionas]

DD1 who is 4 has always been very easy. She just needs her (stinky) blankie.

DD2 (19 months) has always been a bit of a nightmare. She's been known to wake up from being asleep if my tummy rumbles if I'm sitting next to her cot. For her, a blankie has never worked. These things seem to help: classical music and something to do with her hands. I haven't found anything she likes to hold after trying lots of things, so I simply hold her hand, sometimes up to 45 mins till she falls asleep. I've actually said to her, "it's OK DD, it's time to switch your brain off now. You can think about all this stuff tomorrow." Funnily enough, that actually worked. Your kids are old enough to understand that concept now, so maybe you could try that on them.

Another thing is to make sure they're getting enough physical exercise or mental stimulation (not TV) during the day. I've spent a morning at kinder with DD1 and they're constantly doing stuff so I can see how she gets so tired on those days. If she's home with me, she's not nearly so stimulated as we've been relying on TV too much lately.