Why won't my 3 year old go to sleep?

[liisaj]

Help! My 3 year old son won't go to sleep - it takes me 2 hours to get him to go to sleep and this has been the case for nearly 3 months.
I've tried everything:
• new bed
• night light
• calming music
• story
• nightly baths
• regular bedtimes
• bedtime snacks / no food before bed
• water / no water
• cuddles
• giving him one of my pillows (scent)
I'm running out of ideas. He gave up his dummy 4months ago now and I don't want to go back to that option.
Anyone got any ideas that might work? Or any ideas why he won't go to sleep?

Firstly, is he tired? Some DC need less sleep than others (my DS1, for example, has always needed less than average, in his case this manifests in waking at an unholy hour).

Then, is he physically tired? That would help. DS2 (3) sleeps much better if we’ve been to the park etc.

Is he still napping...I loathe the bit when they’re giving up their nap...sleep is always shot for a while.

If he's anything like my three year old boy it's because he's a tiny little knobhead.

I still lie with him to go to sleep with white noise on, but I ignore him once all the initial request for water, another story, to see where the dog is, to put a different white noise on etc.

Does he still nap? If he's, stop the naps if you can. I've taken him out for a walk in his pyjamas but bundled up before now for a bit of cold fresh air to tire him out.

Is he doing enough in the day to tire him out?

Is he still napping?
Maybe you need to start later
Life here got easy when I gave up trying to do it at 7 and starting at 8

He doesn't need to go to sleep as long as he stays in bed. I let mine have any small toys and books they wanted to play with in bed with them but the rule was they couldn't get out of bed. They always dropped off eventually.

A little walk or play outside at 4pm helps children sleep something to do with circadian rhythms I used to pop mine on the trampoline for 20 mins whatever the weather They always slept like logs 7-6.30

Does he have a nap?
Does he have the recommend 2 hours exercise per day?
How much screen time do you allow him?

All of the above affect my 3 year old especially the nap. I don't allow her to nap at all and she now sleeps 7-7 (I breast feed her to sleep)

Give him some toys and tell him to play quietly in bed, and don’t disturb you. This is a children’s sleep aid. It’s herbal though, so might not work.