Another 3 year old ...won’t sleep...

[bangingmyheadoffabrickwall]

What to do with a three year old who fights sleep!

She has a bedtime (7:30pm) and tried other times to no avail.

She has a bedtime story. (Keeps wanting more and more and more ...)

She is downstairs several times a night up until we go to bed. (Currently up now at 10:30pm) She stands by the sitting room door looking in!

She wakes at 2:30 wanting to start her day. She insists on playing or having the tablet to watch and can be still awake at 6am!

Getting her ready for nursery or the childminder unleashes the devil. We have tantrums.

Naps are hit and miss. Sometimes she falls asleep and other times she fights it.

Currently stopping them as half an hour has a knock on effect on bedtime. She goes to bed late and wakes early - 2:30am!!!

She is a very active child. I am really not sure where her energy comes from as she is a very picky eater - refuses all carbs and will only fancy pasta when it suits her! Meal times are hit and miss. She is exhausting!

I am exhausted.

We give her routine but even as a baby, she fought it. If it wasn’t on her terms, it ain’t happening!

Now a study I have read suggest poor sleeping pre-schoolers have behavioural issues as an older child!

She is mischievous but aren’t all 3 year olds?

I just need some advice!

I'll a sewer as my son was like this, tho having issues if my own with 2yo DD.

1. Find that back bone and stay strong.
2. Do not give in to the iPad in the night. Choose a time it is ok and stick to it.
3. Clear and consistent rules from both of you.

Good luck, it may take a while but an iPad demanding child at any point in the night isn't ok. Once rules are in place you can see what the fall out is but it sounds a nightmare anyway so can't get that much worse!

Oh and no more naps. Choose two books for stories, consistent same message about going to bed.

My ds1 like this. He's 4 now and is exhausted by bedtime. He needs mental and physical stimulation all day. He is especially exhausted after a full day at preschool because they do stuff with him all the time.
Stop the naps unless ill or early in the day.
We fell into the trap of putting our bedroom TV on in the morning (4am) whenever he woke, which became a habit for him to wake at the same time. I broke this by bringing him into bed with me and patting him back to sleep. I now need to break the climbing into our bed at 4am but also have a 2yo who comes in...
Sorry not much help.

I had a terrible sleeper until over 5 y/o so you have my sympathy. But, you are crazy to let your DC have the iPad during the night. Not only are you rewarding the night waking, and reinforcing that it is indeed time to get up and have fun, the blue light in the screen will be mimicking daylight. You’re literally programming her brain to think it’s day. No wonder she’s awake watching until 6am.

I recommend rapid return: every time she gets up, take her straight back. Don’t chat, say “sleepy time now” the first twice, but otherwise say nothing. Just make sure she has water, tissues, her usual teddy before you start so she can’t send you off on ‘errands’ that get you interacting or responding to demands.

My kids didn’t need naps over 2y/o. She may be a kid that just doesn’t need as much sleep as the average (I was advised this by an NHS expert). Drop the naps, attempt a slightly later bedtime (say 8pm). Don’t force her to sleep, say she can quietly look at books in her bed, but she must stay IN bed. If not, rapid return. The same for the 2am wake ups.

She needs to learn to go back to sleep, and to do that, it needs to be super boring.

If she gets into bed with you, will she go to sleep without demanding playtime?