Nearly 4, only sleeps for 9 hours a night. Is this enough?

[bunny2]

It isnt for me! Ds goes to sleep @ 8.30/9 pm and is awake 5.30/6. I am so tired, I am 9 wks pg and need more sleep. Is this a normal amount for a 3 -4 y/o? I think he needs more but short of drugging him, what can I do?

How does he seem during the day? Does he get overtired or need naps?

My ds1 is nearly 4 and also has very little sleep. He will often be wide awake at 11pm or even later (while in bed). This seems to be enough sleep for him. He rarely naps and doesn't seem to get tired so I suppose it's enough for him.

shame! Ds sometimes appears to be tired in the afternoon but he never naps. I read that 12 hours was standard at this age, where did I go wrong?

Didn't reply earlier as I didn't want to make it seem worse for you!

But my DS(4) and DD(5) both go to bed at 8pm (asleep by 8.15) and wake up between 7.15 and 7.45. Although DS was awake at 6am today

What I'm not sure about is what you can do to change. Will he go back to sleep at 5.30 if you bring him into bed with you?

I think he needs more too. What happens when he wakes up? I think it might be good to concentrate on getting him to stay in his bed - ie he can look at books, play quietly and drink the milk and eat the biscuit by his bed, but not leave his room. This might well mean he goes back to sleep out of sheer boredom. Being awake at 5.30 is one thing, waking you up is quite another...

Found a good site here about how much sleep children need. hth

Dd2 only ever slept about that amount. She really doesn't seem to need any more than that. She's bright and perky, full of life and active, so I guess she's one of those souls who can get by with less than than most.

Thanks for the responses. Apparently he should have 10-12 hours a night but obvoiusly some children just dont need this much and I fear he is one fo them. The thing is he wont settle earlier even if we take him to bed and go through his routine at 7.30 he wont settle till 8.30 at least. He normally wakes up and comes into our bed before morning (he can have bad eczema attacks and I dont mind him coming into our bed for some comforting). So, as soon as he wakes, he is jumping on me and asking me to get up. I think a start is to get him back into his own bed every night. I have put up with it for 4 years but with another baby on the way, it cannot continue.

Hi bunny2, I remember an old thread about putting a light on timer and he's not allowed to come into your bedroom until it's on, or a star chart etc. Will see if I can find it. May help.

here it is

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Hi Bloss - could you clarify how you pushed it to 11 hrs please?
Did you push bedtime back by 10 mins every night until you were at 6pm or did you do it straight away.
Am interested as my 3yr old over the easter hols ( was going to bed later and now she will not settle any earlier that 8.15 which means I have to drag her out of bed now she is back to part time nursery - she was very grumpy this morning...
She use to be in bed at 7pm, story, left by 7.15 so am in two minds to go "cold turkey" or wind bedtime back by 15 mins every night?
Thnaks Bloss

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thanks Bloss.
I think I'll just go back to the "old" bedtime of 7pm tonight..
Got sidetracked last night and it was 8pm before she was in bed....had to peel her off her bed this morning!! - poor thing!
Glad to hear your DS is fine now!

DS1 goes to bed between 7.15 and 8.00 and wakes around 7 but sometimes he will go to bed at the same time and wake about 4.30 or 5.30 this can go on for 3 days in a row. I had this through my pregnancy at points and I would send him back to bed and tuck him in if it was 4.30a.m but if it was nearer 5.30.a.m I would get him into bed with us and he would fall back to sleep, because if I sent him back to hois own room at that time, he would almost certainly stay awake. try that to see if it works. Ds2 is 8 weeks and Ds1 comes in alot now , but I have stuck to the same thing 4.30 back in his own bed, 5.30 in with us although it is a bit of a squash!!

Ds 4 & 1/2 normally sleeps about 10:45 hours, from 8:30pm to 7:15am, but just occasionally (like this morning) he catches up with an extra hour, so this morning he didn't wake until 8:15, even tho' we were up and moving about (deliberately quietly tho'.

Earlier this week (Monday and Tuesday)he got up and came downstairs without waking us. Up to now has woken us, then come downstairs and got himself some breakfast. So perhaps weekend lie in's are becoming possible again

Wow, Easy, making breakfast at 4 1/2! That is pretty good going, teach him to make you some too and he can bring it up on a tray

Karen, thanks for that, I'll check out the website though I dont know if ds will listen to instructions, he ignores everything else I say!

I might go for Bloss' technique and shift bedtime forward a bit. The thing is ds looks out of the window and says "it's not dark, it isnt bedtime" Shall have to reeducate him I think. We tend to eat @6.30 - 7.00 as I like us to have supper together as a family. But I suppose we will have to eat earlier so the whole late afternoon routine can shift. Bloss, what time does ds eat if he is in bed by 7.15?

It isn't bacon and eggs bunny, just either fruit corner or a blueberry muffin. He once tried to slice himself a Banana, but the mess put him off.

Still wakes us when the dehydration gets to him tho', he hasn't tried to mix his own milkshake yet (thank god)

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