Any way to get kitten to sleep through the night?

I have had Bailey for 5 weeks now, he is 11 weeks old. Overall he is a great kitten... Playful, healthy etc. My only issue is while I am trying to sleep he is constantly trying to play with me... Hopping around the bed, playing with plants in the bedroom, etc. If I lock him out of the bedroom he whines and meows all night long. I try to play with him more in the evening to tire him out a little bit but that doesn't seem to work too well. I have tried squirting him with a spray bottle when he won't calm down but he comes back 30 seconds later. I bought him a bed in hopes that he would use that and stay out of the bedroom, but no dice.

Any ideas?

First of all, squirting never works and only makes everything wet! He is being a kitten, and as with children, this is something you have to live through. You are right to tire him out before bedtime - a snack then might help too, then try to ignore him as much as possible. He will get there, but everyone has the sleepless nights phase. If you can't stand it, then you have to lock him out of your room, somewhere where you will not hear him scratchng and crying! And few of us can do that.

Welcome to kittenhood! It's not in the nature of kittens that age to sleep for 7 or 8 hours at a time so you'll either have to put up with it until he grows out of it (my kitten has just got to the stage where he'll sleep through the night on my bed - he's 6 months) or shut him out of the bedroom and ignore the cries (in the hope that he'll stop and learn how to amuse himself). The first kittens I had were 8 weeks when I got them and I shut them out of the bedroom. They were used to being in a pen on their own at the shelter I got them from so they made no noise and just amused thmeselves. Different story with my current kitten but I've not tried shutting him out. Kittens are like babies in that they start to sleep through the night at different ages.

I agree, you're in the midst of kittenhood! My Willow would be all over the place when I got him (at approximately 5 months old) he has now learnt to settle, yet can still have the odd moment! But he is a pretty needy kitty!

You are doing the right thing with vigorous play before bed and a treat of some warmed wet food could help too!

It will ease with time!

Mocha, 9 weeks old, has done the same thing since I adopted her. Some nights are worse than others and she's slowly learning that play time is over when the lights go out. And the darker the room the better! Her worst night was when I left the blinds open a bit to let in the air, but she was pouncing on me every two hours. Ignoring her when she tries to play/pounce helps, too. If I'm boring then she will go away.