My 5 Yr Old Daughter Insists She Is Not Sleeping

both my kids went through this.
They're sleeping - they just dream vividly and wake up frequently and maybe even lay awake for a little while. But don't argue it - just ask what she's doing instead of sleeping and nod a lot while you listen.

What difference does it make if she thinks she'd awake all night or not? Is she saying she can't get up in the morning because she was awake all night? I guess I just don't understand what the big deal is. Sometimes when my kids want to pick an argument like this I just say "you're fine" and move on. Don't engage her in this battle. It's a little silly.

Is this a problem. Why argue with her. If that is what she believes, so be it.
Choose your battles.

My son swore he didn't sleep either. Its a phase. He also swears that he's never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or cookies or played that video game or taken a shower or whatever he wants to eat/do.

I'd pick your battles and this isn't one worth arguing with her about.

I was the same way....... I remember, long ago, insisting that I didn't sleep at night.... but one time, on a vacation, my brothers and sister had to wake me up... and that was their proof that I did indeed sleep!

Who knows inside the mind of the child?

Kids do not always understand what sleeping really is. My son thinks that just laying in bed is sleeping.

I have to admit, this is cute.

Just go with it. You know she's sleeping. I think she also knows she's sleeping, she just can't remember sleeping. Play into the fantasy and ask her what she's doing. Where does she go? Are there ponies and dogs and fairies there?

I wouldn't worry about it.

Well you know she is sleeping.
So fine.
No sense in arguing about it with her or have to prove it.
My kids have thought that too. When in fact they are sleeping.
At that young age, they don't have a sense of "time" or how much time has passed etc. literally.
And then the other side of the coin is: with my kids when they were younger, when they have napped, they say that they napped FOREVER. Meaning a long time. But in fact it was only a cat-nap for like 15 minutes. But to them, they napped for ONE HOUR Mommy!
Okay. Whatever. Fine.
Or there were times they napped for a long time, but insisted they ONLY napped for FIVE minutes.
Okay. Whatever. Fine.
But I know the "real" timing of their sleep or nap.
Okay. Whatever. Fine.
Main thing is they get adequate sleep and rest.

Kids at 5 years old, DO NOT have a LITERAL sense of time or timing.
Nor how to gauge, time. Or future time or elapsed time.

Honestly, this sounds cute. Young children come up with all kinds of strange, original beliefs. Reminds me of when my brother, many, many years ago, was so firmly convinced it was firemen's job to *start* fires. He grew up to be a fine, upstanding, very reality-based grownup guy.

Just let her have the belief as long as she needs to have it. No harm is being done. When she gets older, you can laugh together about it.

If she's resisting waking up each morning, she could need more sleep. Kids go through phases pf needing more or less sleep. She might be going through a growth spirt. You could try making bedtime 8:00 or 8:15 to see if that helps.

It could also be that she is simply not a morning person.last summer my son attended some camps. He loved them. But every morning he cried and complained that he hated camp and didn't want to go and just wanted to sleep. I wanted to pull my hair out. My husband told him he had "morning brain" and he would feel better after he got up and got dressed. Every afternoon when I picked him up from camp he would tell me that Daddy was right about "morning brain."

I wouldn't try to prove to her that she really was sleeping. At that age there is still so much of the world they don't understand and are trying to make sense of. They can come up with some pretty creative scenarios.

Last year at my son's school one of the kids fell off the monkey bars, and the school called the paramedics. A fire truck was sent, and my son thought that meant the child's head was on fire. I mean, why would a fire truck be sent if there wasn't a fire? We tried to explain it to him, but he insisted that he was right. We just let it go.

It's very possible your daughter could use a little more sleep. It's also very possible she's simply not a morning person. Either way I wouldn't worry too much.

Common phase. Annoying but common. When they drift into sleep and out of sleep, it's such a gradual process, they aren't aware of it. When they awaken, sometimes their thoughts are the same ones they had the night before, so they aren't aware that so much time has passed. Is it possible she's overheard someone else talk about being up all night, stressed and overwhelmed? Even seeing TV commercials about all of the sleep aids can trigger something. Occasionally, when kids go through a growth spurt, it's tiring and the body can be a little fatigued.

You've given her objective proof, and it hasn't helped. I'd just minimize it, say, "Sorry to hear that. Want some breakfast?" Don't let her use it against you, of course - if she's too tired to get up and get dressed, then she's too tired for TV and play dates too. Just have her go to bed earlier "since she's so tired" and see if she gets rid of her obsession with this. Just tell her she'll outgrow it and get through this period, and in the short run she just needs to give herself more time in bed. Good luck!

She probably is dreaming and thinks that means she's awake, LOL! I'd put her to bed early if she won't get up in the morning.

My 10 year old tells me this - but she is absolutely sleeping. I just listen to her stories when she tells them and offer ways to sleep better...even though she is sleeping.

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My 10 year old tells me this - but she is absolutely sleeping. I just listen to her stories when she tells them and offer ways to sleep better...even though she is sleeping.

she's only 5. she just doesn't get it. sometimes when you've been lying there awake for a while it DOES feel as if you've been up all night! she's just in a phase where she's still sleepy when she wakes up so that's the logical 5 year old assumption.
i wouldn't spend any more time worrying or trying to prove her wrong. just get her up gently and cheerfully, and carry on. if it goes on for more than a few days, put her to bed earlier.
khairete
S.

She's dreaming that she's awake.
If she can write and/or draw, you can have her start a journal about what she does at night - it's a dream journal basically but she doesn't realize that she's asleep when she's having these night time adventures.

You know, I went through something similar when I was around 7 or 8, I would fall asleep and wake up a MINUTE later!!! Of course it wasn't really a minute later but it felt like it. It's like something misfired in my brain. It was morning, I went to bed at night, but I couldn't remember sleeping or dreaming. It was like I was on fast forward from night to day.
I remember it happening several times and then it just stopped. Maybe it's a glitch in the growth of the brain or something (?) I would just reassure her that it only SEEMS like she didn't sleep, that her brain is playing tricks on her and then change the subject. Dwelling on it too much could make her more anxious.

Sleep next to her one night and see if she's tossing and turning. Or if she's laying there like in a trance...

She might be waking up a lot and just dozing back off. She might be having very active dreams, and she might just be confused.

If she does start seeming more tired then I'd say taking her in for a sleep study might not be a bad thing.

My niece did the EXACT SAME THING!!! She was also 5 at the time. She will grow out of it soon. You don't need to push it on her unless there is a specific reason. Is she upset at the thought that she is not sleeping, or just denying that she sleeps? I wouldn't worry unless she seems like she needs more sleep.

Over the years, my son (13) sometimes tells me that he didn't sleep at all during the night. I've checked on him and he is deeply asleep. He is old enough now to believe me when I say that he was snoring, although it bothers him that his perception of reality is false. At 5? Don't argue about it or try to prove it. Say Okay and move along.

I rarely nap during the day, but I was up so early yesterday that I had to lay down in the early afternoon to rest. I was POSITIVE that I didn't actually sleep, but I must have been dead out for awhile out because I missed 2 phone calls during that time. Normally, I would never sleep through the phone.

She is now having vivid dreams and remembering them..

I would not argue with her.. It will just frustrate her.

When you go in to check on her, whisper her name and see if she responds. She could be awake but trying to sleep so she's being quiet and still, but possibly still mentally awake. That happens to me and in fact last night was a prime example. I didn't sleep one wink, however, I was tired and I did lay there with my eyes closed trying to at least rest. She really may not be sleeping or she may be getting intermittent sleep and just happens to be sleeping the second you check on her.

My GD also told me she was having trouble sleeping - like yours, I was hearing "Noooo. I was awake all night." So now I give her 1.5 mg of melatonin when she's going through a sleepless period and it works wonders. You may look into that. Don't assume that she's sleeping.