My 4yr old takes 2 hours to fall asleep

It takes between 1-2 1/2 hrs for my daughter to go to sleep.  She has no problem sleeping alone with a night light.  But she gets up about 10 times and makes excuses. She's thirsty, she can't sleep, she needs something, or she takes a toy in bed or 10 books.  Should I  just empty her room until she starts to show good behavior?  I'm worried for when she starts school in the fall that she will be too tired to pay attention in class.  She does not take naps but she does fall asleep sometimes in the vehicle as we live 25 min. from town.  I do wake her up as soon as we get home so it does not interfere with her bedtime.  She has a routine.  Bed, bath, brush teeth, story time then bed.  I let herself look at a book after I have read one till she falls asleep but now it has got out of hand.  It has become 10-20 books!

[RockRose]

I took forever to fall asleep too.  Some kids just have a harder time with their brains shutting down for sleep.  It's not about "good behavior",  it's about taking forever to be able to fall asleep.

I think giving her a large stack of books  and a cup of water by her bedside is a good idea.

It sounds like she's in daycare and so there's a 25 minute drive every evening for her?  That might be a problem right there - she's getting a nap and so it resets her ability to fall asleep at bedtime.

[natv1984]

No, she has never been in daycare.  I have a 10 month old aswell.  When she does fall asleep it's usually just a few minutes before we get home.  It's usually only once or twice a week.  So I can't see that being the problem.   I know she is over tired though.  She still wears pull-ups at night because she wets the bed.  So we're trying to not give her anything to drink at bedtime unless it's a sip.

[meniere135]

I noticed with my kids that when school started, they would start falling asleep sooner, after a week or so into the school year.  School usually tires them out.  My oldest daughter was the same way.  I did everything the doctor told me to do - NOTHING WORKED!  The doctor even tried Benadryl to help her sleep - DIDN'T WORK!  She didn't sleep through the night until 1st grade - haven't had a problem since.  Now she's 18.  This is a common problem with kids.  I don't know if emptying her room will help or not.  Maybe for some kids it does help.  It won't hurt to give it a try.  Good luck!