Almost 4yo sleep regression!

[SausageSmuggler]

Help! DD is 3.9 and was always a superstar at bedtime and sleeping but since the sodding clocks changed she's become terrible.
The cycle she seems to be stuck in is she won't go to sleep (but happy to be in bed) until late, 9-10pm and wakes up once or twice in the night. She rarely gets through the day without falling asleep even when I attempt to keep her awake (normally she dozes off while I'm cooking dinner). The cycle continues. A quick Google seems to suggest not letting her nap at all but sometimes it can't be helped and tbh even when she doesn't nap she doesn't go to sleep much earlier and still wakes in the night.

She gets sleepy around 4 so I try to get her tea for 5 and get her to bed for 6:30-7 otherwise she comes through the other side and gets hyper. It doesn't seem to be working though and she's got constant black rings under her eyes and is more prone to tantrums.

Apart from riding it out I'm not really sure what else to try. Have I overlooked something really obvious?

Your googling has given you the answer - you just have to stop her napping completely.

Realise that changes are not going to be instant - staying up and not napping one day may not have an immediate effect that night. Likewise two days in a row not daytime napping at all might still not immediately change her nights.

But if you are consistent it will work. Give it two weeks and be consistent - no daytime sleep at all for 14 days. Consistently regular bedtime and wake up. No weekend late nights or lie ins. Put her to bed at exactly the same time every night for these 14 days, also try to wake her at the same time.

Consistency will resolve this.

That's what I thought . Any tips on keeping her awake in the afternoon/evening?

Just engage with her. It needs a commitment only for a couple of weeks to break the habit, then her natural sleep patterns will adjust and she should be much less tired so less had work to keep awake.

You could pop to the shops and have her walking. Go to the park. Play games. Do crafts. Go out somewhere. A long bath can kill almost an hour in the evenings with my children.

If cooking dinner is a difficult time then for a couple of weeks eat at your main meal lunchtime instead, plating up for those who need it in the evening. Or batch cook and do easy meals for the fortnight that don't require you being in the kitchen for too long.

Any tips for keeping her awake?
Chocolate! I'm sorry, it's terrible but I shamelessly fed my daughter chocolate to get her through the afternoon or if I needed to take her in the car. It sounds awful but she was staying up til 10pm and I was newly pregnant, morning sickness, feeling exhausted and my partner was working away Monday to Friday.

cuppa that sounds familiar! I have been known to resort to that one too.

Set back yesterday where she went to visit IL's. As I dropped her off I repeatedly asked them to make sure she didn't fall asleep, they said ok. When I went to pick her up at 4:30 they said she'd been asleep nearly an hour! She then had the worst meltdown because I had to wake her up. Oh well. We'll keep going, I'm sure we'll get there eventually.