3 year old insomniac - help!

[OldieMum]

DS will be three later this week. From babyhood until a couple of months ago, he went to sleep almost as soon as he went to bed (at about 7) and slept through the night. This pattern was disturbed for a short period around the time he stopped needing an afternoon nap, but he soon re-established his previous sleeping pattern.

However, he now takes somewhere between 2 and 3 hours to get to sleep, sometimes longer. He is wide awake during this time, making endless trips to the loo, running around upstairs, playing with toys, calling to us etc etc. This is making him very tired the next day and leaving us feeling stressed.

Has this happened to anyone else's child and what did you do?

.

I've got one of these!
DS is 2.9 and is never ever asleep before 8.45pm. Usually nearer 9.15. And he is up at 6am. And no nap! I laugh heartily at people who have children sleeping 7-7.

He always has to do at least 3 wees on his potty (which I must admire), then I have to take up some car or other, then there is a naughty pigeon eating his window, yada yada.

Hope you get some tips. You are not alone though......

Can anyone help us? I've tried the obvious things. He has a routine (bath, story) to set him up for bed, I often sing to him etc etc. None of this has changed from the days when he just went straight off to sleep.

Sticker rewards don't help, as the pay-off is too far off (next morning) to have any meaning for him. I hate giving negative sanctions (shouting ), but can't think of effective positive incentives.