Question: My 5-year-old daughter has never slept well at night. She can be up anywhere from 1 to 10 times per night, and averages 5 times per night at the moment.
She has chronic eczema and although we have it relatively well under control, I think this is why she has never learned to settle herself when she wakes. As a baby she needed care and cream to stop the itch or bleeding from the eczema and now we are stuck in a habit. I have tried everything. She gets quietly put straight back to bed, we have done reward charts, threat of toy removal, literally tried anything we could think of. She goes to bed late, does a full 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM day at school, plays with her sister when she gets home, gets lots of exercise and fresh air, has no sugar/caffeinated drinks, no TV near bed time, a steady bed time routine, and no sweet foods after 5:00 PM. Help please! We are exhausted, its been a long 5 years and she is no better. She has started to get bad dreams now, which is an age related thing and her sister was exactly the same at her age, but this is not the underlying issue. I am desperate and any advice would be so gratefully received. She is full of energy, but not hyperactive, happy, and reasonably healthy for a 5 year old apart from her eczema.