So, it's nearly 10:00 at night, and my 3 yo is still wide awake in his room. Just like every other night, we start his bed time routine around 8 or 8:30. Snack, water, books, cuddle time, and out. And every.single.night it is a struggle to get him to sleep. It is not uncommon for him to be up until 10:30 or 11:00 at night. And, unfortunately, he's not just laying in bed talking to himself. He's out of bed, throwing toys, pulling down books, pulling clothes out of his dresser, etc.
He sleeps until 6:30-7:30 in the morning, regardless of when he goes to bed.
He is also really, really fighting his naps. They only way we can get him to nap is to put him back into a pnp!!! At 3! If not, he plays quietly for a few minutes and then starts throwing tantrums.
Part of me thinks that he may be out-growing the naps, but he is a monster in the afternoons without one.
Any advice? Thoughts? Anything that has worked for you? Sorry, but my DH and I are at our wits end. Our DS2 is asleep by 7:30 at night, and we spent the next three hours getting DS1 down. And once he's down, it's almost time for DS1 to wake up to eat. It's an exhausting situation!
Re: Please help with 3yo bedtime and napping!
We went through that with our first a little before she turned three and the second one is doing it now. IMO when naps start interfering with overnight sleep it's time to cut them. I found that once the kids reached the point that a short nap kept them up until 11-12-1 they would also be an overtired mess the entire next day.
We've been nap free for about a week with #2 and the transition isn't easy, but she's already more cheerful and more rested than she had been for a few weeks before, so I'm pretty sure the no nap thing is working. Keeping her awake is hard, especially with a 15 minute drive each way to pick up her sister from school at 3:30, but we're managing and it's working. Bedtime is smoother than it had been in a long time!
You give me hope! Glad to hear it's getting better.
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Agree with the PP's - drop the nap. Or else nap but have an earlier cut off time. My 5 yo is a sleeper and he would nap at any time if we left him. He is always great at going to bed too. My 3.4 yo daughter is completely and totally different and has been trying to give up her nap since 2.5. They key for her is if she doesn't nap we have to put her to bed much earlier before she gets overtired. Otherwise she can't settle down is up until 9-10 at night.
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I agree w/ PPs, you need to cut out the nap.
DD1 was doing this and we started cutting out her nap. It took almost 6 MONTHS for her to stop being a bear in the late afternoons. I really had to find stuff to do and keep her entertained.
At first, she would nap about every other day. Once she started fighting her nap, then she'd nap later. I couldn't stop her from falling asleep around 6pm while I was cooking dinner. Nothing I could do, believe me I tried!
Finally, just this week, she stopped falling asleep late-evening and stopped napping all-together and has been totally fine and happy all afternoon. She now goes to bed around 8:15 w/out a fight (for a while, it was 11pm fighting the whole time!).
We do quiet play-time during DD2's afternoon nap, so I still get my "me" time in the afternoon. It's working out way better then I thought! I put DD2 down for her nap and DD1 gets to watch a show. After her show, she plays a game on the computer, then goes and plays in the playroom for about an hour.
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