Every night for my son is a sleepless struggle. I give him at least 1 to 1.5ml of liquid melatonin at night to help him sleep. This was a recommendation from his psychologist for the sleepless nights. It's either this, or I let him keep me up until 4am, get up at 6am, struggle with him until he misses his bus, then receive more truancy letters for my 5 YEAR OLD SON. So yeah... I do give my son a natural hormone that we already produce in our bodies, to sleep.
The "drops" as we call them, do not do all the work themselves. Yes, they help tremendously! However, I have to set the "tone" and right environment to for him to tire out. I turn off all the lights in the living room (sometimes he gets mad and turns at least one back on) then I head to my room. I tell him, "Okay, Killian, I'm gonna go lay down!" This kid doesn't really like being alone in a room by himself, so he soon follows. Sometimes I will pick out a show or movie for him to watch, sometimes I let him pick.
Here's where the "trick" comes in. I will pause and take a break from it. I'm not the type of person that really wants my kid to fall asleep to a TV or computer. So... I take it over. Meanwhile, I tell him, "I gotta do something, so you need to wait." Sometimes I add, "Just put your head down and we'll get back to it when I am done." Then I start doing things like checking my e-mail or research on the internet. Next thing I know, he's bored and fallen asleep.
SCORE!!
Honestly, he "falls" for it every time. If you have a kid that is as sleepless as mine, you know the victory of getting a kid to bed before 9pm... or midnight... or whatever.
It's not all a trick though. If he starts to get restless and I know that he needs a little more stimulation before he can commit to bed, I will turn the show or movie back on. So I am not lying to him. It's just a little trick I have learned along the way.
I hope this works for someone else too....if you don't think I'm a terrible parent for it. ;)
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