4 yr old playing instead of sleeping

[Alwaysroomforpudding]

Kind of a WWYD...
DD (4) has always been a pretty good sleeper. However, recently she has started playing/reading in her room after I've said goodnight. I'll leave her at about 7.30 and all will be quiet, then I'll pop back an hour later to find her sitting up in bed, with her light on, surrounded by toys, chatting away to herself! I'm not sure whether I should be trying to enforce "sleep-time", but tbh I haven't got the energy at the moment as I have a non-sleeping baby to manage too and it's just me in the evenings. Are anyone else's DCs similar?

I'll be lurking to see if anyone answers, DD is the same age and exactly the same at the min. She does tend towards singing though!

My 3YO DS does this most nights.

I go on the basis that as long as I am not actually being required to parent in any way, then that's fine. He's usually asleep within an hour.

If he gets out of bed and starts wandering about / starts making too much noise then the naughty toys get put on the naughty shelf for keeping DS awake.

Phew, it's good to know I'm not alone!

DD has just appeared in the living room in full tinkerbell regalia! I took her back to her room and you can't see the floor for toys. Still, at least it shows she is capable of independent play - she's been up there playing by herself for nearly an hour and a half now - shame it doesn't happen during the day!

DD (4) is the same. I used to get really hung up on bedtimes but sometimes I find it hard to sleep I think DD is not that different at times. Some nights she'll fall asleep when I read or sing to her, other times she looks quite wakey and
I don't want to sing or read ad infinitum so I wish her good night and she plays quietly or reads to herself. I do emphasise to her that she must be quiet and stay in her room and put herself to bed when she is tired, and when I check on her about a half hour later she's tucked herself in and is asleep.

Mine does it too! I've tried shouting, ignoring, pleading etc but to no avail. Usually he comes down with various excuses (his cover is inside out, he needs a plaster etc etc) so I now cover these off in the first place, tell him I'm not coming back up then leave him to it. He shares a room with his baby brother so I've moved the 4 yo's bed nearer the door so he doesn't disturb him. I wondered if they need less sleep atm? I figured though that once at school he would be more tired? He had a busy day today and went straight to sleep! tbh I'm bored of the arguing so this is all I have left :-)

DD1 is almost 5 and still does this. What we've done is put a little structure to it otherwise she'd be awake all night playing. So bedtime goes:
7pm into bed, story, chat & cuddle
7:10: playtime. She needs to keep the noise down a bit & has to play in bed.
7:30: lights out. Once lights go out, she has to lie down quietly.

Works quite well for us. DD will often call before 7:30 to have light turned out if she is very tired.

Oh this has made me feel much better! I was wondering whether I should be a bit more hard-line about it but you've reassured me that my lazy approach seems ok. On the plus side, DD does also play well in her room quietly if she wakes up early, so I suppose I should be thankful!

My 5 year old dd does this too. I don't think you can really do much about it, some children just have a later bodyclock and aren't ready to sleep that early. As long as dd stays in her room, I don't mind (too much), she falls asleep when she's ready.

My dd has a night-light which is just enough for her to read with. I wouldn't be happy about her putting the main light on.

Dd3 is 4 and she has recently started reading to herself after I have read her bedtime story.

I'm not fused a s long as she doesn't come out of her room, she knows I have put her to bed and she has to turn her light out and go to sleep when she is ready, she doesn't last long.

I quite like listening to her pretend to read to her teddies!