3.5 yo seems unusually tired, advice please

[Imatooworriedmum]

DD is 3.5 years old and is often tired. I admiraal I have a bit of health anxiety around my DC but I feel like her energy level is much lower than her older brother’s was at this age. She eats well, drinks well, wee and poo seem normal. Sleep could be better, I think she’d benefit from a power nap during the day but doesn’t get it due to nursery or just being a bit strong willed and growing out of it.

However she often seems so tired and wants to be carried, although if we get to our destination (playground, zoo, etc) she’s full of life and doesn’t want to leave. Is this just being the youngest childe, or might something else be going on with her?

How much sleep is she getting?

You say she eats well, what's a typical day look like for food?

If she wants to be carried when walking but then suddenly rediscovers her energy when you get to the play park, this is behavioural. If she ‘can’t’ walk to the play park (when you know full well she’ll race off when you get there), you advise her that if she’s too tired to walk, she’s too tired to play and you’ll have to turn around and go home.

Mine struggled at this age and feeding her more frequently helped.

Thank you for your replies. It's good to know other children of a similar age have the same thing. Sometimes the walking is non-negotiable, though, for example, if we're walking to the train station. I can't say "well, we can't go" because we have to go! What do others do in this case?

She can walk quite a way, she walked the entire length of the London zoo and was only tired when it came time to turn back roudn, which is understandable! But sometimes she just really seems to have nil energy and that's when I worry.

She sleeps 11-12 hours per night, approx 7 p.m.-6:45 a.m., sometimes 7:30-700 or so. We did have 1-2 wakeups during the last heatwave. If she has an actual long nap at nursery (>1 hours) she is up until 10 p.m. and can't get herself to sleep.

Her diet is reasonable I think?

• Breakfast, 7:00: whole grain toast with topping (cream cheese, hummus, avocado, peanut butter, jam or nutella on weekends) or cold cereal with milk (Weetabix). She will drink milk or oat milk with breakfast, and often has a bit of fruit or veg (a few cucumber slices, a few berries) alongside.
• Snack, 9-10:00: can again be toast with a bit of chees or hummus and fruit. Water or milk to drink, sometimes kefir.
• Lunch, 12:00: Warm food at nursery, at home often a simple sandwich with hummus/veg/chicken/cheese, with fruit and veg on the side. Sometimes leftover from dinner or soup. Milk/water/oat milk to drink.
• Snack, 15:00: whole grain crackers/rice cakes with cheese/peanut butter and fruit/veg, milk or oat milk to drink
• Dinner, 17:30: we mostly eat vegetarian, I try to balance whole grains and protein (legumes, beans, rice, veg), once a week fresh fish (salmon, cod, sea bass). Dessert is yogurt (plain or sweetened) with fruit and mueseli.
• During heat waves she had a couple of ice lollies each day.
• She is meh on eggs, sometimes has a hard boiled egg or scrambled but doesn't consistently like them. Maybe she does not get enough protein? We eat lots of hummous, peanut butter, beans. She does love meat and fish.

Is give her a free pass tbh. She's still little and its been really hot.

Just take a scooter/buggy if you need:)

Sounds entirely normal, i don’t think comparing to a sibling is helpful. Wanting to be carried is just some kids wanting to be carried!

Thank you all, as I mentioned I have a tendency to worry so it’s good
to know nothing sticks out as worrisome to others.