3 year old driving me crazy!!!

[IsItWine0ClockSoon]

DD is 3 and a half and has never been a great sleeper. I sought advice when she was 11 months old and she did improve and I learnt a lot.
But, she has been waking up between 5 and 5:30am for months now and I can't quite figure out what I could do differently.
I have varied her bedtimes; if she's exhausted she has been down as early as 5:30pm and slept for 12 hours but then I've also kept her up later (on holiday) and she's still woken at the same time-although with a real grump on!
My main problem is her behaviour-I can cope with the early starts but I cannot cope with the screaming, the tantrums, the yelling etc because she's so shattered! These happen anytime after 4:30pm and usually when she wakes up.
Any advice would be so so welcome! She'll start school in September and I am dreading the moods that might accompany the long days! It must be horrendous for her to feel that tired and crap most of the time!
Thank you x x

So one of my children was still having a lunchtime nap until over 4 years old.

Do you think your DD would benefit from reintroducing a nap? If this possible, maybe establishing a 90 minute "quiet time" after lunch will help. Whereby you never plan to go out after lunch, give her a blanket and cushion on the sofa and put a DVD or similar on for her. No pressure to sleep, but might help her recharge. I would enforce this quite religiously, not ad hoc but every day in a quite routined way.

Thank you, that's a good idea and something I can easily do most days. Fingers crossed! X x