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They all go through that phase...Tell her quietly that her behavior is effecting your health. Reason with her. In the old days it would just be the kid watching TV - remember in this modern era you are not dealing with just your kid but with a score of night owls who are all on line together. Welcome to the digital world where some other kid can keep your kid up via remote control.
You've got a 15-year-old who does everything right but wanders your apartment at night (rather than sneaking out) - cherish that. Seriously. She's not going to set the place on fire. I'm going to suggest you make a compromise or two - as in, you work on your anxiety and she keeps it down a bit more.
Buy nonfat milk. Tell her when it runs out for the week, that's it. But she can drink all the water she wants (buy a Brita if your local water doesn't taste good).
Get earplugs - they really do work. And a cheap fire alarm that is close to the stove if you're really freaking out.
I have a lot of friends who are night owls. It's just how their internal clock works. In fact, the same anxiety you're exhibiting, could be what's making her wander the apartment at night.
You need to relax. She needs to be quieter. Work on a solution based on that.
My daughter is almost 15. She is a good kid in every way except one.... She's developed a habit of staying up very late. We live in a small apartment and, all night, all I hear is her going back/forth to the kitchen, opening the fridge, taking something (milk or juice), going back to her room, dancing, click-click-click on the computer, etc etc etc.
Last night, I was up until after 3am with this! I kept telling her to GO TO BED! She would quiet down for a while but then back to the nonsense. She actually stayed up all night and didn't go to sleep until 10pm tonight.
I am not getting a good night's sleep at all. I find myself constantly waking up all night long to tell her to turn off lights, get out of kitchen, go to bed, etc etc etc. This isn't something that just developed over the summer ---- she would do it a few times a week during the school year, too.
I am at my wits end with this. I need to be able to sleep without worrying about her leaving the fridge open or drinking a gallon of milk in one day or cooking something and falling asleep while it's cooking and causing a fire. I've considered a lock on the fridge and the pantry, but that just doesn't sit right with me.
Any constructive thoughts or suggestions??
Take everything out of her room that entertains her and lock the fridge. If it continues after she is sent to her room and lights out she may have insomnia or some sort of sleep issue.
I don't have any advice about how to convince her to go to bed. You can setup rules and consequences.
I can suggest for your health that you seek treatment regarding your anxiety. It's not your worry that she'll drink a gallon of milk or leave the refrigerator open or start a fire....unless she has left the refrigerator door open or fallen asleep while cooking. I doubt that she probably has, and it's probably your anxiety. Please help yourself with your anxiety, because your daughter is at home rather than a boyfriends house or an unknown location.
She is the parent, it IS her concern whether her daughter burns the kitchen down. I'd be stressed out too if I was getting little to no sleep and worrying about what my child was doing all night.
OP, do you think your child has ADD or insomnia? The lack of sleep and nightly activity seems excessive.
I used to be up late at night when I was a teen. In my case, it was the only time I had to myself after homework and chores and taking care of my younger sisters. My mom also kept it too warm to sleep comfortably.
I have the wifi set to turn off between 1am and 6 am at my house. If hubby or I happens to be staying up late and needs to use it, it's easy for me to override, but that way I don't have kids up all night watching Netflix or playing Candy Crush. During the school year, it is definitely my business how late they're up and mine are a little young to be using the internet with no adult supervision.
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