My son has a terrible time going to sleep. He says he can't shut his brain off. I have read that this is common in gifted children. (And, adults by the way...some sleeping only 4 hours a night!)
Since we have several other children, we put our DS6 1/2 to bed at the same time as the others (8pm). However, unlike the others, we allow him to read for about 45 minutes before we shut the light off. He usually lays there for about 15/20 minutes before he finally goes to sleep. We also allow him to draw on a lap desk sometimes. He is usually the first to rise at around 6:30am.
He seems fine with this schedule. No excess sleepiness in the day or anything. I think you really have to go with your own gut on how much sleep your kids need. We have some that can't function on less than 10 hours, and some that need only 7/8 hours a night.
Do you feel like he is cranky the next day?
