2 1/2 year old naps in car then still bouncing around the room at ten o'clock. Any tips!!!! HELP!!!

[bananabrain]

That's it really. My 2 1/2 year old ds2 just isn't tired at bedtime if he sleeps at all in the day - a short sleep early in the day(ten to twenty mins) means he is up till about nine-thirty - a longer sleep or a sleep later on means he is still full of beans (and I mean FULL OF BEANS) after ten (ie. NOW!)
The only way I can prevent him having a sleep in the day is not to go out anywhere in the car - and then wake him if he starts to nod off on the settee - on those rare days he is fast asleep at seven.
I think he is actually tired (possibly over-tired hence the bouncing around being slightly crazy!) but he just won't switch off and stay still long enough to sleep.
Tis a bit of a vicious circle as tomorrow he'll be more tired, so will almost certainly fall asleep in the day even if we stay at home.
I don't mind the odd night when he's up till late, but every night is exhausting - especially as he doesn't sit still
Does anyone have any tips on either getting children who don't feel really tired to settle and sleep - or on preventing them from sleeping in the car. Or is it just a case of waiting until he grows out of this phase... Ds1 used to sleep slightly later if he had napped in the car but never this late, REGULARLY.

It is just a phase I remember well! I stopped going out in the car or resorted to prodding them to keep them awake if I really had to go out!

I don't know how it fits in with your day, but would he have a powernap in the car for 10 mins at a lot earlier time to get it out of the way? I know a few people who re-introduced a brief nap around 11am until the problem sorted itself out. That might refresh him enough to get through to the bedtime routine, but still tired enough to sleep?

Also, I guess if you haven't already then you could also try the usual favourites of active play in the afternoon and watching out for foods/juice that get him fired up? Aren't certain foods like Milk, Eggs, Fish meant to help get them sleepy??

Finally if nothing else works, could he have headphones and listen to a story tape in bed or similar to wind down? You could make it really dull and boring for a few days to put him off staying up late e.g. no tv and most toys away.

Good luck, I feel for you still on the go in the late evening.

Thanks for the replies. Good ideas Themagicnumber. The power nap might work, even if it meant he went to bed at 9ish it's better than 10.30! Although yesterday he had snoozed in the car on the way out - about 11.30 so I was surprised he slept again later at 5. I think part of the problem was that he had been fairly late to bed the night before too. Maybe I need to try to get him into a bit of a routine and power nap early every day - after a few days once he has caught up on sleep that might be enough to get him through. It has to worth a try!!! (But he does get grumpy if I wake him once he's in a lovely sleep and I feel very mean...)
Today he slept 2-2.30 as he couldn't go on any longer (big tears ) but has settled just now at 9.30 so not so bad - I get a bit of an evening and he won't be so tired tomorrow.
I'll look out for the food/drink thing too - though he doesn't seem as sensitive to those as ds1 was. Though maybe the fish he had yesterday lunch time was responsible for the sleepiness on the way back - hmmm.

my ds is 19 mnths so a little bit younger but i do the early morning nap thing and i wont let him sleep after 1 till bedtime which is 7. i also stopped giving any type of sugary things such as juice or fruit after 4 as sugar seems to give my ds boundless energy. i also bath him every night i know its a drag sometimes bathing him every night but it does get him into a bedtime routine. the bath seems to knock him out like a tranquilizer. hope you have a bit of luck sorting his sleeping out.

Well just to confuse my plans and I think because he has a cough, had a disturbed night and is a bit under the weather - today he has had a sleep for half an hour at lunch time - then was completely knocked out by half seven! I'll make the most of this sleep though because I have a feeling he'll be awake in the night again...
See - even when you have a PLAN for them they have their own ideas

I will try the no-sugar thing though, because I'd never really thought of that and he does usually have juice with his tea.

Try and keep him awake in the car. I have the same problem with my 20 month old DD - she is still awake now because she fell asleep in the car today.

I try opening windows to blast them with air, doing animal noises, talking about stuff all the time, giving some sort of snack that they can pick at for a while, making sure they haven't got too many clothes on so they aren't too warm and want to fall asleep.

I try to get what i need to do out of the way in the morning, shopping, dog walking, toddler group etc, then lunch, bed by 1pm. I let her sleep for 2hrs then wake her or she wakes up herself.
We go out then for plenty of fresh air, park etc, i let her walk for as long as she wants. Bed 7pm sleeps till 7-8am. Same everyday.
Shes 22mnths, i think they need up to 14hrs sleep a day at this age.
If i let her sleep in the morning she is so grumpy by 5pm and in bed at 6pm. I just don't think its worth letting her get over tired..

I think I have had children who just need less sleep I can't imagine either ds1 (when he was littler) or ds2 sleeping 7pm-8am even with NO naps. NEVER with a 2 hour nap aswell. It always amazes me when I hear other people say their little ones are in bed by 6.30 or some such time! Mine seem to need about 9 hours a night and hardly any naps... no wonder I never get any tidying done (that's my excuse anyway )
The only time recently we put ds2 in bed at about 6.30 because he had fallen asleep in the car - in the hope that he might sleep all night - he was awake at about 11pm wanting to play .

My 3 are all different sleepers - one for 13 hours - no naps (sleeps badly at night if has a nap), one for 12 hours plus 2 hour day nap, one for 11 hours max and needs a long nap in the day. All have the same consistent bedtime routine and have tried allsorts of combinations.

A friend has 2, one will nap and sleep well at night, the other won't nap and has never had more than 11 hours sleep in 24hrs altogether - always happy and smiling.

They are all so different aren't they...

having similar problems with DD1 (2.5), and feeling grumpily housebound, she is still really tired and in many ways needs a nap in the day, so if we go out in the buggy or the car for longer than 10minutes she drops off, but any form of nap in the day seems to mean she won[t fall asleep till 9 and even then not sleep brilliantly. Whereas if I can string her out all day she's asleep within minutes of going to bed by about 6.15... (waking at about midnight, but that's a whole other set of insomniac details )Infact does anyone else know how I can help her get back to sleep... it can take hours, she wants to, but can't seem to drop off ....

jenster - I can't help with that one either, only sympathise, as ds2 is also hard to get back to sleep now when he wakes in the night. Last night he was awake from 10pm until 1am. I was sure today he would have an early nap (having woken just after half seven) but despite being out in car 11ish for twenty min drive and again at 1ish for twenty min drive back - he remained wide awake until 5pm when he crashed out on the sette for half an hour!!!! So I expect him to be not-at-all-tired at 9pm tonight.
I think maybe I'll just have to let him sleep whenever he needs to just now until he grows out of this...

This sounds sooo familiar, just glad its not just me then!!

Sounds like my dd. She has never needed sleep. She gave up her single tiny nap at 13 months and likes to stay up till 9ish at night. If she falls asleep in the car she's still up at midnight. And she never wakes up groggy, it's 'ping' 0-60. Luckily, she's very happy and sunny with it but in the car it's constant song singing, snacks and silly noises to stop her sleeping.

LeninGrotto - yes he's usually up around seven/half seven every day, regardless of how much he's slept the night before.
The lack of fresh air / running around outside might be something though - maybe I'll make a real effort to drag myself get out for a play/walk whenever it isn't wet.
LOTMW - A song tape for the car might be a good idea as he loves singing and usually has only our one music tape on which he's probably bored with.

Thanks for the ideas!

drag myself didn't work but was meant to be crossed out!! Should I have done drag myself ??

Oh yes - that worked