Early waking and naps for 3 year old

[Pcr2005]

Hello,

my daughter is going to be 3 in June . Have been having real struggles with her sleep for the last few months, waking from 5:30/6am everyday. On the occasional day she will wake up 6:30-6:45 but never any later and that’s probably been twice in the last 4 months. Have tried cutting nap, dropping nap, putting to bed earlier/later at night and nothing changes it. Currently goes to bed 7:30pm-8pm.
she would happily have a sleep in the day for an hour - hour and half if I let her. Curious whether any toddlers are still napping at this age, do I persevere and carry on dropping or let her sleep and put bedtime back?
thanks

I’d commit, fully, to dropping the nap. That’s the end goal after all. Naps aren’t worth it if they are causing compromises with night sleep when it’s age appropriate to just drop them. You’ll need to give it at least a month to see what her natural pattern is. It might be that you realise she is an inherently early riser and 6am is her norm. But at least without a nap it means bedtime can be earlier to compensate.

It's normal to nap at 3 and also normal not to, it's the kind of age where it's child dependent. I would probably drop the nap and bring bedtime forward slightly . You may need to give it at least a couple of weeks to adapt waking times. Early waking can become a habit especially if they are then used to having breakfast very early as well.

Agree with above
drop nap
do bedtime early - 630/645 and give it 2-4 weeks she will hopefully start sleeping in with this change
good luck!

Thank u for the replies.
have been trying this for about 5 days. No change yet. Has anyone experienced this, putting to bed earlier in the pm but still waking at the same time or earlier in the am?

You need to fo whatever you are trying consistently for 2 weeks.
5.30/6 wake up is normal if they are going ti bed that early and napping. At nearly 3 she is getting the right amount of sleep.

Ds is just 2. He goes to sleep 8.30-9pm then wakes 6.30-7am ( with wakings). So 9.5-10hrs maximum overnight. He sometimes has a nap, most the week no. If he went to bed at 6.45pm he would be awake at 4.30am

I think 7.30pm-6.45am is a pretty long sleep. 6.45pm to 5.30am would then be maximum. I would Aim for 8-8.30 bedtime, and if they need nap just let 45min maximum

Some kids don’t need to sleep 12 hours a day. Send her to bed at 8 (lights off at 9) and see what happens.

Mine was a perfect 7 to 7 sleeper until 4, then he was unable to sleep more than 7 hours a day until he hit teenage (No, he was not cranky, he did very well in school), he used his late nights reading was normally up, in his uniform having breakfast when my alarm went off at 6:45.

I feel your pain! My DS 3 has been a pain in the backside with his sleep ever since the clocks went forward in March. He's a sod to put down at night, will fight sleep up until 9pm some nights and wakes anytime from 430 onwards with the early sunrise and birds. Some days he will nap in the afternoon and others he won't. Even starting full time at Nursery hasn't helped, he just over tired and a ratty bum instead. Were just going with it now, trying to solve it is just stressing us all out.

Is her room dark enough? It's getting light here just after 5am at the moment and I personally struggle to sleep when it's too light in the morning

I agree with the poster above at this time of year you need to make sure the windows are blacked out or small children will be awake at the crack of dawn.