Question: My 6 year old son has struggled with sleeping for a long time. Even when he was 2 years old he would lie still in his bed and not fall asleep for hours, when I knew he was tired.
Now at 6 years old he goes to bed and stares at the ceiling for hours and finally falls asleep sometime past 10 PM. Then when I wake him up in the morning he is still so tired and also emotional because he has not had enough sleep. He goes to school and I see that he is overtired there because he is emotional at school, and sometimes acts younger than his age. At home I have tried calm music, essential oils, relaxing bedtime routines. and limited-to-no screen time in the evening, but he still lays awake in his bed for hours and once in awhile he will come out of bed and tell me he can’t sleep.I can tell that his struggle is genuine. He is a quiet, sensitive kid (although maybe the emotions are because he doesn’t get enough rest). I’m not sure what to do. I’m not a fan of pharmaceutical drugs because I’ve seen too many people become dependent on them.