'He finds it hard to calm down': one parent's fight to get her child to sleep

Despite restricting iPad and phone use, Clair Lyons’s son has long had trouble getting to sleep

For Clair Lyons, getting her son to sleep –  and stopping him from waking up at the crack of dawn – has never been easy. “Even as a baby he did not need much sleep, and as a new parent that was completely draining. He has always been an early riser,” she says.

Lyons has tried everything over a number of years to give the now 17-year-old a good night’s rest. “We have tried massage with him, various pillow sprays, lavender oils. I have always restricted his iPad and TV use and even now as a teenager I make sure his phone is out of the bedroom and he does not have use of it – or his iPad – at least for an hour before going to bed,” Lyons says, adding that she has instilled a strict bedtime routine with all her three children.

Related: Sleep: how much do we really need?

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2TuRAn6