3 Yr Old Won't Go to Sleep!

I know how incredibly frustrating it is to have a child that will not sleep. I am so sorry you are having to deal with this.
My son is 2 1/2 and gave up his daily nap about 8 months ago. About once a week or so he will take a nap if we happen to be in the car mid-afternoon. My point in saying that is he now falls asleep within 20 minutes at bedtime (most nights atleast). It was a tough transition for both of us to go from an afternoon nap to no nap. He gets grouchy around 4pm, but I just love him through it and the reward is an easy or easier bed time.
Maybe she doesn't need the nap anymore and the drawn out bedtime is her body's way of telling y'all. I am impressed that you have convinced her to have quiet time in the afternoon. I am still working on that one!
Good luck!

1. Make sure tummy is full (from dinner)... if hungry a banana or turkey helps with sleep...but absolutely no sugar, juice or treats.

2. Give a nice warm bath

3. Put her in bed (after the rest of your routine) and tell her she is NOT to get up. Be firm and consistant.

4. If she is fearful, go in and pray for her.

5. Getting rid of a night light is helpful too (shadows can be scary).

Our son sleeps in the pitch dark and can't see shadows.
Cuts down on fears.
We take his fears seriously and stay and pray when he struggles.

Hope this helps!

You are a good mama, J.!

Blessings,
A.

I have a few suggestions. Maybe something will work. Go to a local teacher store and buy a sticker chart (you might be able to find one at Wal Mart) and stickers. Choose a goal. For example, staying in bed after Mommy or Daddy say "lights out." For any night she does that, she can put a sticker on the chart when she gets up in the morning. After she either fills the chart or gets a certain number of stickers, then she gets a prize that you have chosen before hand. This can be a toy or special time with Mom or Dad or whatever you choose that will be special to her.

Another suggestion is to put up a gate at her door. I only had to do this one night with my youngest. She hated the thougt of being "locked in" her room. She stayed in her bed every night after.

When you tuck her in, tell her what you expect of her. Say "Even if you are not tired, you have to stay in your bed with your eyes closed." Tell her to think about something that she wants to dream about. You might even help her do this the first night or two and then get her to do it on her own. My daughters love stories of them being princesses and riding magic carpets, etc. I start telling the story, but only if their eyes are closed.

Often it just takes the child settling down so that they can fall asleep. Take away the flash light and replace it with a night light (the kind that doesn't get hot). Don't allow her to play out of her bed when it is sleep time. If she is used to playing in her room before bed, set a timer for 10 - 20 minutes. When it goes off, she must get in bed. If the problem is that she plays with things in her room and won't stay in bed, you may have to have a "goodnight" box for her toys that is removed at night. Good Luck!

Check her diet and do-away with all processed additives and MSG. These could be acting as stimulants. Google 'food additives' and 'MSG fast food' for more info. :]

My 3 yr old does the same thing. We gave her milk before bed that was just a little warm. There is some type of chemical change that takes place in the milk when it is heated that causes drowziness. But really, I always feel that if she's tired, she'll sleep. We had, and still do sometimes, a hard time getting her to stay in her room when she first went to bed. Same type of excuses as yours, and what do you do when they say they have to go potty? What if they really do? She used to pee just a bit so that it took her 4 trips to empty her bladder before she would stop comming out. We told her we knew what she was doing and she was gonna start getting in trouble if she didn't stop trying to be sneaky. Good luck!!

This is the age where children start to remember their dreams They become more aware and it can be very over stimulating and a little scary. This is a faze but how you react will determine how long it last. You might incorporate an extra book, snuggle time in her bed. Pray with her, and turn out the light. The flashlight can create shadows that a vivid imagination will run with. Don't give in, don't let her get back up and most of all, don't become angry. I know that is tiring etc. Especially if the baby is on a different schedule. This could be doing a little of it as well. She has gotten up and realized the baby is awake and she is in bed. Good luck sweetie, when she is 17 and out too late you will remember this time fondly.

My son is almost 4 and does the same thing. We have gotten to where he just has to lay in his room. I can always tell when he doesnt feel good because he will want me to rock him and those nights I do rock him for a few then lay him back down. My son is spoiled though. he has a tv in his room and can watch cartoons at night. I know when he is really tired because he will fall asleep before the first 30 minutes. Usually by the end of the dvd he is asleep. Since we do that usually during the day he doesnt get to watch tv. Put a radio in your little ones room and turn it to soft or country music. Music is really soothing to some kids. I hope it works out.

S.
Helping others work from home!
www.always4myfamily.com

Sorry I'm a few days behind on responding, but I just saw it. My daughter went through that exact same phase at that same age. It lasted several months. I was trying to make her scream it out and that would last for hours until she would start throwing up and hyperventilating. As it turned out it was that she was afraid of having the door closed. To this day (she'll be 5 in July) she will freak out if the door is closed. This may not be the same problem for your DD but it could be something else that simple. Try sitting down with her like first thing in the morning when she's not exhausted and stressed out and talk to her about it. I know that seems silly at this age but it really could work. I regret not doing that sooner with mine. Just ask her what makes her not want to go to sleep at night. Ask her what you can do to make it easier for her. Let her feel like she still has some of the control, but really you're just getting rid of the problem. Hope this helps in some way. I really feel for you and hope it gets better soon.

A.

We had the same situation. It got to the point he was so overtired, he wasn't acting right during the day, whining, upset, etc. We finally talked to the pediatirician, who prescribed something stronger than Benedry (but still an antihistimine) to get him to sleep. It worked like a miracle! I was so against it, because I thought I was 'drugging' my child, but he was able to function the next day and began sleeping better and a lot of the behavioral problems went away. We only used it a every 5 days or so, when he was getting less and less sleep. The more tired they are, the more difficult it becomes for them to fall asleep, because it becomes a battle of wills. Another idea is to start ignoring her 'mama's' for a couple minutes. If it is really important, you will know, or she will eventually stop, if it's not important, and she will fall asleep on her own. Ours now has a gate at the door. We don't put it up until he gets up twice, then he gets the gate. If he continues, the hall light is turned off (he still has a tyke light in his room.)

I would think about cutting down on, or cutting out, her nap. My DD quit taking naps around 3 or so, so it's a possibility that yours might not need that long of a nap.

I will say that my DD also went through a stage where it took a couple of hours to get her down and still - I think her little mind was just ticking along when she needed to settle down. So it may just be a stage she is going through - after a few times of hearing you say, "it's time for bed" she will likely get the message! ;>

One thing we do is Good Things (pre-Martha Stewart, LOL, I did it when I was a kid!), where we talk about the good stuff that happened during the day. We wrap up with our standard list of things/ideas that make us happy. Mama & Daddy's love, God & Jesus' love, little sister-to-be's love, favorite toy/blankie - whatever makes your DD happy!

Good luck!!!

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