Nearly 3 year old wakes up carrying on!

[Bluebell121]

My 2 nearly 3 year old goes to bed at 7pm she watches her dvd till 8 sometimes half 7 as she falls asleep! She doesn't have a nap due to her giving her dummy up herself before she turned 2 she wouldn't leave a nap without it after that , but on the odd occasion if she does fall asleep she can literally be asleep 10 mins and that's it she will be up until 12am! I don't let her nap for this reason as I have 1 other child who is 1 and has same routine but he does have a nap she literally gets up loads of times in the might crying and when I go in she throws herself about I give her a drink and take her to the toilet when it's back in time for bed she makes every excuse not to go back " I'm scared , I'm hungry , I want my tv on" I do not turn her tv on she has a night light projector on her ceiling and she has a special teddy that " keeps the monsters away theoretically " but even when she wakes up loads through the night you would think she would stay in bed and have a little longer sleep? NOPE she's up between 6-7 I no 7 isn't that early but sometimes it can be half 5 or if she wakes up crying she won't go back to sleep at all! It can be 3am! She has always been a fab sleeper as a baby and always had routine but it's only recently it's been wierd everyday this week it's be 5.48 bag on the dot every day I've been so freaked out from it she was at my bed bang on that time!

First thing I would do is remove the tv. Falling asleep in front of a screen is not going to lead to a good nights sleep.

I mean she's 3 so early wake ups arnt an issue really. What is an issues is allowing a 3 year old to watch a dvd to fall asleep to. This will have an effect on the mid night wake ups and not wanting to go back to sleep. How can you expect her to know the difference between going to sleep with the telly in the evening and then not being allowed it to fall back asleep to after she's woken up?
Plus, the blue light screen time will be effecting her quality of sleep and not allowing her to fall into a deeper sleep.
Cut the TV before bed. She's 3 ffs

TV out of the room, today. It's really not helping and you'll make things worse for yourself in the long run if you leave it in there.

Calm cbeebies or something, bath, and then read her a story in bed. And earlier bedtime is probably needed. My 5yo is in bed by 7, and asleep by 7:30. You might need to stay with her while she falls asleep to start with. Lots of toddlers need the reassurance.

She needs to fall asleep naturally, not pass out in front of a DVD. If I fall asleep watching telly I always wake up shortly after and then can't get back to sleep.

She'll kick off, no doubt, but so much easier

Excuse me I don't no why your been so offensive on my post but it's not wanted thanks , she watches half hour tv and she goes to sleep as he brother is 8 and watches it till 8 and I don't think it's fair not that I have to explain to you this is MY child and my way of parenting so don't dare sit and look down at me like your the perfect parent thanks! . Your going on like it's life or death some kids go to sleep with there mothers downstairs having patty's my child watches a tv till 8 and shes normally still awake her tv gets turned off and she goes to sleep alone so please go away with your negativity making me feel like I'm such a bad parent.

@SomeHalfHumanCreatureThing hi , that last message wasn't towards you I just seen your message I understand but it isn't always a dvd she normally watches bedtime stories and then goes to sleep on CBeebies it's not all the time she has a dvd she has a bath and sometimes she crashes out without me even putting the tv on

The reason we are all suggesting to remove the tv is because it is well known that falling asleep in front of the tv does not lead to a good nights sleep. There is plenty of research out there to show this. So if she isn’t sleeping well it is the obvious place to start.

Also have a 3 year old and a 7 year old and 9 year old they have different rules because they are different ages.

some kids just go through an early waking phase - my DD did, and at 5 she only does it a couple of times in a fortnight now, and once she was up she was up. I talked to a sleep behaviour expert - they suggested making sure they have a little snack (milk and cracker) just before bed to rule out hunger.

I never found anyway to get her back to bed once she was fully awake, but there were triggers in the day like routine changes/getting too stimulated that would mean she was more likely to wake up early - I don't know if routine changes explain anything for yours.

There are storytelling apps like Calm for kids (and others), you may want to try that so she's got her eyes closed whilst she's falling to sleep but there's still a story going on. The blue light of screens affects your natural melatonin surge (that's the hormone that makes you sleepy) and that's why people say it's a bad idea.

But the TV is the reason for her poor sleep!

Don't ask for advice on mumsnet if you aren't prepared to listen to the responses. Nobody has been rude, and the fact that everybody is saying the same thing would strongly suggest that removing the TV is the way to go.

She sounds very overtired. You have had some good advice op.

A storytelling app or audio book is a good idea I think

@SomeHalfHumanCreatureThing I'm coming to mums net because I thought the people here would be abit more nice than making someone feel like a bad parent like you are no one else is on here!

the paediatrician I see about my DD also asked me about screens near bedtime - I'm guessing there's still an effect, your DD may have enough melatonin to fall asleep, but if the screen is stopping her making as much as she otherwise would, it can be causing you the issue later in the night.

Nobody knows for sure - I'd definitely think about whether the early wakings are linked to days she's more stressed in the day or you've done new things etc.

Maybe some calming, soft music would be better.

But nobody is saying anything unreasonable

@peanutbuttermarmite , hi the tv isn't stopping her going to sleep she's asleep half hour after she goes to bed she's in bed for 7 she's never awake after 8 unless she had a nap from a big day out she wakes up through the night crying saying she's scared she's fine going to sleep

She has me read books to her everynight it's a ritual she would go mental if I didn't , she also had supper before bed which is a slice of toast and some warm milk

🙄

But watching TV until she falls asleep is most likely the problem. That’s why everyone is advising you to stop it. Why are you being so touchy?

of course you're not a bad parent, you wouldn't be asking for advice otherwise - my DD was often on her tablet or a screen during the early wakings as I was so exhausted, so no judgment here on tablets and I imagine the 1 year old also takes time to get to bed.

None of the paeds/sleep therapists think a dvd right before bed is a good routine though. It's key 'sleep hygiene'.

The other thing they said - nothing too active before bed, calming play only - I was getting my DD to dance to wear her out, but you have to do that at least 1-2 hours before bed as in fact it was getting her too excited and I hadn't realised that.

Watching tv and falling asleep isn't really a bedtime routine for a child

People are explaining the link between blue light and poor quality sleep/ frequent waking.
Also linked to overstimulation and chronic overtiredness. Little children often have poorer sleep when they are overtired.

All you need to do is change her routine and see if it works. Dinner at 5ish, a bit of tv downstairs(or quiet play) while you tidy up after dinner, 6pm-7pm bath and books then bed with no tv.

If I woke up in the night, the reflections on the tv screen in the near dark were scary.

@peanutbuttermarmite hiya my 1 year old is super good! He goes to bed same time and he doesn't watch tv but I put " fan sound" on as he won't go to sleep without fan sounds he goes straight to sleep and doesn't wake up till his sister comes in and wake us up lol