Community› The Bump Local Boards› D.C. Area Babies
D.C. Area Babies
New Discussion

3 year old sleep issues. - HELP

northernvabridenorthernvabride member
in D.C. Area Babies
SO DD #1 will be 3 next month.  She has not been a great sleeper for the past year since DD#2 was born.  She started to get up again every night and want us to adjust her blanket, get her water, etc.  We thought we moved past that and were back to sleeping all night until a few weeks ago.  She had been going to be around 8:30 and now she won't let us put her down until almost 10pm!  I think that is too late, but have not figured out how to make it any earlier.  She is super cranky when I wake her up in the morning for daycare, so I know she needs more sleep, but I am out of ideas on how to get her to bed sooner.  And on top fo that, she now seems to be having some sort of night terrors.  She says she is scared of various things in her room when she is being put to bed, but I think she is just stalling.  But in the middle of the night, she will run screaming into our room about dragons that are chasing her, or spiders, etc.  She is really upset and now wants to sleep in our bed to calm down.  Luckily after a few minutes, I can move her back to her bed.  But I don't know what to do to get us back on track to sleep all night.  Between the late bed time and the waking up to go potty and then the new night terrors, I am exhausted and she is cranky.  HELP. 
Report Reply to Post

Re: 3 year old sleep issues. - HELP

  • frogdognyfrogdogny

    We're going through the same thing right now with our 3 yr old. ANd I remember going through it with DD#1 at this age too. So from that perspective, I think it is totally normal. Like yours, DD#2 often doesn't fall asleep until 9:30/10pm these days even though we try to do lights out by 8:30. She is a zombie when we need to wake her up at 6:30 to get ready for school!

    Our tactic is to just try and deal with things as efficiently and directly as possible and not play in extensively to her whims. For monster issues, we got a spray bottle filled with "monster spray" (there isn't really anything in it) and make sure we spray down the room if she starts complaining. We've also given her a flashlight which "disintegrates" monsters when they get the light shined on them. For water requests, she is allowed only one glass and it must be brought to her. She is only allowed out of her room if she needs to go potty (although that gets used as an excuse too often lately!). We're really firm on that one. If she comes out of her room, she'll get a time out. We don't have any issues with night terrors waking her up, but she does cry out in her sleep on occassion.

    I have accepted the fact that I can't force her to fall asleep and continue to pray that the phase passes quickly. When she complains that she isn't tired (even though she is yawning and can barely keep her eyes open) I do tell her that she can read books in her room if she wants to, but again insist that she is not allowed out of her room. Thankfuly, she is pretty good with that, but in a pinch I admit I have threatened (and occassionally used) the removal of her woobie/bunny if she doesn't settle down. My last advice would be to not let her stay in your bed at all when she comes in after a nightmare. Camly bring her back to her room, turn the light on or shine a flashlight to prove that there are no monsters and calm her down. Once you let her in your bed even for a few minutes, you're creating a monster yourself! LOL

    GL! I hope it gets better soon. :)

    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"