How do I keep my 9-year old in bed all night?

At 9 years old, he’s old enough so that you don’t need to keep an eye on him 24/7. Just ignore him and stay sleeping in your bed. Mommies need their sleep so they’re not cranky the next day

It's always HARD to sleep hungry.

No caffeine after 2 :30 pm ..... Limit sweets after 8 :00pm ..... Keep his room quiet , don't go in to check on him more than once an hour ..... Make sure his alarm is set for wake-up time and Not sooner .

a shot of Fireball whiskey

We always wrestled, with our children, so they would sleep at night.

Take him to a pediatrician and have him checked for insomnia, sleep apnea, and other sleep disorders.

If they're not going to sleep until 9pm, then you're shooting yourself in the foot by trying to make them sleep earlier. Unless you drug someone, you can't force them to sleep if they don't need to sleep.

Try pushing back your kids' bedtimes a bit. If the younger one is younger than 9 then maybe try 8:30 for that kiddo and 9pm for your older boy. If they're snacking before bed, then either encourage them to eat more dinner, or allow them a healthy snack like fruit or or nuts or sugar-free yogurt 30-60 min before bed. If they still don't stop sneaking treats, then stop buying for a while (and use sibling peer pressure in your favor here!). Although I think shutting down electronics right before bedtime is perfectly fine, if they want to stay up a little bed and do a quiet activity in their room, why not let them? Different people develop different sleep cues to help soothe themselves into sleep, and maybe your kids really need to read a book or color or play with LEGOs for a little bit before they're ready to settle. As long as they're not disrupting sleeping siblings, I think you should let that one go.

I also don't see any issue with your son getting out of bed and moving to the couch if he can't sleep. So what if he does? Plenty of adults change sleeping locations through the night if they can't sleep. It's a strategy that works for some people. Rather than fight it, just tell him that a) if he's having trouble sleeping he can move to the couch, but b) he's not allowed to wake up Mom & Dad unless he's sick, had a nightmare, or there's another emergency, c) he's not allowed to wake up his siblings, and d) that he puts his pillow and blanket back on his bed in the morning without being asked.

Just to clarify the point here, stop fighting your son's natural sleep patterns. You're just going to keep being frustrated. Figure out how you can work WITH them instead, so that he gets enough rest but also does not disrupt the rest of the family. If his natural pattern is to sleep less and have longer wakeful periods at night, he's likely going to be like this for the rest of his life and your job is to help him find coping strategies. Putting him to bed later will probably help some with sleep consolidation, but the early bedtime just means more of him lying awake in bed feeling frustrated. That's a recipe for a lifetime of insomnia right there.

Your goal shouldn't be to keep him asleep all night, or even in bed all night. Don't YOU sometimes wake up in the night?

Begin by allowing him to stay up until 9PM. He obviously doesn't need as much sleep as the average 9-yr-old.

Next, your goal should be establishing rules for when he does wake up at night, and these rules should be based on safety considerations. The two of you together have to decide what makes sense for your living environment, but such rules might include the following:

May go to the bathroom, but otherwise must stay in his bedroom (let him keep a bottle of water in his room in case he needs a drink).

May turn on the bedside light, but not overhead light.

May read a book, but may not turn on the TV, IPad, or computer.

May not wake up or bother his siblings.

May not wander about the house.

If he doesn't feel well, he must wake you up.

May not go into the kitchen.

One possibility you have not mentioned is that he may be sleepwalking.

Try to make bed seem like a special occasion, it will make the child want to be in bed more as they consider it a good thing. Also, toys may need to become a special occasion as a reward for sleeping. I hope this helps!

Gaffer tape and cable ties.