I asked this same question about 6 months ago with my daughter and finally got things fixed. Well, lately we've been going through her not wanting to take a nap or go to bed at night again. She will fight to the bitter end at nap time until it's taken so long to try and get her down it's not worth it anymore. Then when bedtime comes she fights just as hard. Some nights it takes 2 hours of fighting her to get her to go down. I've tried many tactics. I tried a chart mapping out the bedtime routine and if she was good and didn't cry when she went to bed she got a sticker the next morning and 2 extra minutes on the timer before bed (we usually give her 5 minutes on the timer). That worked for a few nights and now it's out the window. It just seems nothing is working with her. We also have a 4 and half month old and I don't know if it has anything to do with her being in our lives now. Thank goodness the baby goes down very easy. She's down by 8:00 - 8:30 with no problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi G.,
You may have gotten this advice when you posted before, but I would highly recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It was awesome - and talks about sleep habits from newborn all the way through adolescence (sp?) - so you could get some use out of it for both daughters!
Good luck!
C.
I can't wait to hear what people suggest because I have been pulling my hair out for the last 6 months with my now 3 year old over naptime. She refuses to sleep and then is out of control by 4:30 until she collapses at 5pm which means she's up late at night....HELP!
She may be ready to give up her nap. My son gave his up at 2 1/2 years old. It was hard for me at first, but I got used to it and the beautiful thing was that he was more tired at night, making it easier to go to bed. They need less sleep the older they get. I do make him rest during the afternoon. I put on a movie and make him watch it quietly.
When my son was 2 1/2 we also had a newborn. He acted out and was hard to put down at times. I came to realize that he just needed more attention. His life was 100% altered by our newborn, which really isn't fair to a 2 year old....so I put myself in his shoes and gave him the needed attention. Every day during his movie watching I would lay down with him and cuddle him or read next to him, etc. This is when the baby was sleeping, so it was just him and me! At night, after putting the baby down my husband and I pop some popcorn and share a bag of it with our son and just talk to him about his day or sometimes we watch tv. We give him at least 30 mins. of pure attention and then he goes to sleep very easily. Hopefully all your liitle girl needs is some extra attention.
Good luck!!!
I have been going through the same thing. My daughter was about your daughter's age when she decided to stop the nap thing. She went from 3 hour naps to 0. I decided to make a deal with her. As long as she was good and did not act up, I would not make her take a nap, but she would have to have quiet time in her room. She would read books or play quietly with her stuffed animals. Sometimes, she would fall asleep on her own. Other times, I would just tickle her back, and it would calm her to sleep.
Now, she recently turned 4, and she was having a hard time going to sleep at night because of fear. She would cry so hard, it was uncontrollable and frsutrating for us. She never had fear before, and always went to sleep at 7:30 with no problem. Again, I resorted to allowing her some extra quiet time with the light on in her room. Now, that it has become her decision to fall asleep, we have been having a much better time with sleeping.
I know every child is different, but find out what calms her most, and try it with her.
Good Luck.
