We've been awake since 3am, please help me!

[Flumptious]

I've posted a few times in the last weeks or so about dd [4] and I'm almost positive that all my worries with her come back to her being overtired.

She started reception in Sept, just after turning four. I know she's still little, but what do you do when your child really still needs a sleep in the day and they can't because they're at school?

She's normally ok for the first half of the week, but gets steadily worse. The tiredness culminates in her not wanting to get dressed, put her coat on [heaven forbid I attempt to get a hat or scarf on her, even though it's been -13] or do anything other than lie on the sofa.

She fell asleep at her desk yesterday afternoon and was in tears when I picked her up. We came home and I managed to keep her awake til 5pm and then she'd gone.

As she's been awake since 3 [and lovely and chatty and entertaining fwiw]I know she's not going to last the day, and is already saying she's too tired to go in this morning. It's her nativity this morning too and I've been looking froward to it for weeks!

I at the end of my tether and so so tired.

You need to get her routine sorted. She's been up since 3 because she went to bed at 5. My son is in reception too and it is definitely exhausting for them (and he's a really energetic child!) I know what you mean about the sleepy thing in the late afternoon but I just keep my DS going. We walk home (often 4.30 by the time we finally get in) then I 'revive' him with a smoothie and a biscuit, a bit of energetic play (TV too relaxing and would make him sleepy on the sofa) then dinner, then bath then bed. I force him to keep going in a jolly fun way so that he is out like a light as soon as his head hits the pillow.

I'd talk to the teacher and say you're sending her in for half days for a while as she's not coping. She's very young.

I'm assuming her being up at 3am today was a one-off, otherwise I'd agree that her sleep routine needs sorting.

If I am right in thinking her compulsory education doesn't have to start until they are 5 years old, I would be tempted to take her out until she is a bit older.

My ds is 6 but still does a similar thing. He gets up at 5am and is very lively. By the time he leaves for school he is beginning to whine.
It makes no difference when I put him to bed. If I put him at midnight he is still up at 5am.
The only solution we have found so far is to put him to bed earlier(ish).
I have spoken to the hv and gp about it but all they can say is he will grow out of it.
Often, if we have to drive anywhere after school he will fall asleep in the car for hours or scream if we wake him up.
I appreciate this may not be very reassuring op but I sympathise and I will hover here for useful suggestions.

There are those 'wake up' clocks that help a child know when it's getting up time. And if it isn't, she's not allowed out of bed! You might have to go through a bit of hell training her, but it seems to me you already are and having nothing to lose.

I would also try a 6pm bedtime. I found it stopped my son getting up at 5am. I slowly moved it to 7pm then. I also used to pay my son 10p a night if he did as supposed to, with a 30p bonus at end of week if he complied every day. He had a moneybox he loved and it was a great incentive.

I don't have to worry about any of this but I agree with scurryfunge.

We have one of those wake up clocks but he doesn't pay any attention to it.
We have tried bribes, rewards, sticker charts, forfeits, the lot - it is sooooo difficult.

I'm with scurry too, sounds like she's just not ready. Falling asleep at her desk :( she can't be enjoying or benefiting from it when she's so tired.

Disclaimer - I'm militant about sleep for children because DS is so utterly miserable without plenty.

I agree - poor wee soul sounds like she is just not there yet. Can you talk to the school about it?

She has a wake up clock but pays absolutely no attention to it. She's always been an early riser and early to bed. She has a star chart on her wall, gets bribed with her advent chocolates [and whatever else I have to hand, hot chocolate and porridge for breakfast this morning]

Her teacher is really good and says she's doing really well, apart from being a bit wishy washy in the afternoons. She's reading and writing and galloping through the work, so I'm not worried about that side of it.

It'd be lovely to do half days, but I work full time and have another child in full time childcare and we just couldn't possibly afford any more care. No family around at all, so no way round it.

This weekend, we'll let her sleep in the day and then she'll have a later bedtime, still before 7 though but by the middle of next week I know we'll be back to square one again.

Doig, I really did try last night. We had the pencils out and were re organising the playroom, sorting through toys and just trying to keep her going. She didn't even stay awake for bedtime milk or put her jammers on, went to sleep in school top and tights. Trying to get her in the bath when she's that tired results in a melt down.

Few things i try when trying to keep them awake.

Quick walk outside
Bath
Pull out the pots and pans
Music
Play at the sink with water and soap
Play dolls
hide and seek

I have a four yr old in school and mid week she gets unreal tired. I let her do her own thing. When she tells me im tired its off to do one of the above. Its hard to keep them awake but once you get her to get a good nights sleep she will be over all that and on to the next hurdle..

Hope things get better for you, as it is hard working full time and coming home to anothers days work.

Interested to read this thread as our three year old is waking up throughout the night (sometimes he's up and down for 2 hours). He used to go to bed without a problem at 7pm and was a great sleeper but recently he has begun to drop his nap, string out his bedtime and is up and down throughout the evening but then gets so tired at the end of the day that his behaviour becomes impossible to manage. I just don't know what to do. Is it too much sleep or too little?

We've cut back on his daytime nap (today he has not slept at all) as last night he was awake between 1 and 3am and he just did not want to nap today. On top of that we have a 5 month old baby who then wakes for a feed. So we are all very tired and emotional.

I'm not sure what else to do. Any other tips?