Please help 3yo DD is driving me crazy

[wheresthevalium]

Basically, she gets out of bed (very quietly) goes into either my room or the bathroom and tips toiletries/make up etc all over the floor, or brings them back to her bed, toothpaste last night was especially nice to clean at midnight.

She has also been adding so many soft toys to her bed that she has a tiny little space to sleep in. She also collects any sort of book or toy (last night was the stool from her little piano) and puts it in bed with her.

I've tried gently asking her about all the toys, and telling her that she mustn't touch the bathroom stuff, but it doesn't seem to help.

Any advice or comments gratefully received

Is she lonely? Or not tired enough?

Sounds like my ds1. He is 3.4 and creeps downstairs and eats, chocolate, biscuts etc in the middle of the night. We had to move everything to on top of the fridge and so far he has stopped but still looks now and again. He also gets up at 5am {hmm}. He has done the toothpaste thing and it's very frustrating. Dd who is 5.1 has more soft toys in her bed than space for her and loves it, I was the same as a child too. We found her putting makeup on ds1 the other morning when they were supposed to be asleep lol.

She has the bottom bunk of bunkbeds. She shares a room with with her big sister (only 15 months older).

She started nursery last week, which I hoped might tire her out a bit more, but sadly not.

She does seem tired when I put both of them to bed between 7-7.30, but I think she is awake until at least 9 some nights, and struggles to get up in the morning.

I am at a bit of a loss as she really is a brilliant, well behaved little girl otherwise [smug but confused emocion]

oh god, is this what I've got to come? DS1 is nearly 3.. No suggestions really except rewards on the mornings when she wakes up without having gone out of the room? Is there some collection of little things she'd like to try and collect - I was thinking those little dolls with houses etc. (no idea what they're called...). I know not everyone's a fan of sticker charts etc. but it might work.

Message withdrawn

valium I have had exactly this creeping/hoarding problem with my ds.

Particularly if he thinks certain things are important to us (makeup etc), he will try to take them to bed with him. The main problem seemed to be like your dd, not actually going to sleep when put to bed.

We reduced the lighting upstairs and instituted a lot more checking (not v. relaxing in the evening) and putting him back to bed if he was up. we started a star chart for going to bed nicely and staying there. He seems better now but don't know if it was just a phase or if any of this worked. I do think the light thing is important. (This occurred to me when we had a powercut, and he suddenly actually fell asleep when put to bed- I think if your kid is the easily stimulated type, too much light is an incentive to stay awake.)

My dd1 is also in the 'fill the bed with animals' stage - which I remember going through as well. It helps her feel secure at night, when Mummy and Daddy aren't there in the room with her - I think?? They are very real to her, she makes up whole stories about them before going to sleep, acts out all her experiences with them, etc.
I do sympathize, becauase making/tidying beds full of stuffed toys - let alone choosing a few of them to wash from time to time - is not easy. But I wouldn't try and change it, either...I've found that the faster I accept her whims (unproblematic ones, that is) the faster she moves on. A few months on, she's already not so bothered about any but the favourite half dozen

The bathroom/toiletries thing sounds like she wants to copy and be like you - which is really normal at this age - but I would set a boundary about doing it at night, or without asking, or with my things. A firm one - and move them out of reach if you can, temporarily. At the same time, I've found that giving my dd a few old make up brushes, a chapstick, a comb, some old jewellry etc and making it clear that these are hers, makes it easier to say 'and these are mine and you are not allowed to play with them'.

Also, starting nursery is a big deal for a 3 yr old...could she be feeling a bit overwhelmed or insecure? Would be very normal! My own dd's toys-in-bed thing increased for a while after her little sister was born a few months ago - not surprisingly.

Well I tried a stern talking to last night, along with the upstairs hall light off, it worked (well one night is a start)

I do let both DD1 and 2 play with my make up as long as I am around to supervise, but thanks for the thought, it was a great idea.

I have no problem with her taking toys to bed, I just need the cosmetics attacks to stop!

Fingers crossed