my 3 year old gets so hyper in the late evenings..what should i do to prevent this? I don't give him any sweets to make him this way either..so please if anyone has advice please send it my way thanks!
My 2 1/2 yr old is the same way. We had to cut out nap time and that seems to help a lot more with her being able to be calm at night, I lay with her in bed and read for about 30 mins maybe you could try some of that. Good Luck
I agree with all make sure he is getting enough activities during the day plus a nap (but not a late nap) Plus I to am looking for other moms to talk to and maybe even playdates.
It sounds like he is over tired to me also. Does he get a nap? If not, he may need one. Good Luck
Beleive it or not, some kids have allergies that make them more hyper when exposed to certain foods, even if they are not sweets. Red dye is infamous for this. Maybe check his diet and see what he is eating that might be a trigger. Good luck!
Try wearing him out during the day- go to the park, have a race around the outside of the house, go for a walk, have him help you with little chores around the house, limit the amount of juice and foods with natural sugars (fruit) in them, and assess naptimes- is he hyper because he is overly tired and punchy so he needs a nap, or is he sleeping too long during the day? That's all I can think of. I hope that helps.
This could very well be a sign of his being OVER tired. Kids get tired and when they don't go to bed during that optimal window of tiredness, they rev back up!!! They may not *look* tired, but oh, they are so tired they can't help themselves and kind of just bounce off the walls. So for example, let's say bedtime is currently around 8pm or so -- try feeding an earlier dinner so that you can dial back bedtime to 7:30pm or 7pm over the course of a week. Give it a few weeks with the earlier bedtime and see if that helps at all. Two books to look at if you want to read more about the effects of lack of sleep in our preschoolers (Kurcinka's book is awesome, I'd start w/ that one first):
Sleepless in America: Is Your Child Misbehaving or Missing Sleep? (by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka)
Good Night, Sleep Tight (by Kim West)
Also, I agree w/ the moms who have said to make sure your 3 yr old is getting enough physical exercise each day. That *really* helps us as well (we have a 3.5 yr old who does *much* better when she's in bed by 7/7:30p than when she's up until 8/8:30p)!
