HELPPPPPP MY daughter madeline is a night owl!!!!!! She barely takes 1 nap a day and she will sleep 1-2 hrs at night in the evening when she is with my parents and I am at work and after I am off at 10pm she will fall asleep and wake back up at 12:30 or 1 and be up till 3 or 4 AM!!!!!! Help no sleep is kickin my butt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
J.,
She does this because she CAN. Using the same principle as with a newborn, keep her days bright, loud, and active and her night dim, quiet, and boring. It should get her back on a better sleep pattern for all involved.
Good luck,
Melissa
My middle son had done this off and on. We have found that we have had to eliminate his afternoon nap. With this done he will sleep longer. He also on days he does nap can only do so before like 3. If he falls asleep past then he will be up until midnight some times. IT is hard. keep strong.
it sounds to me like she is ready to give up the nap. It is disrupting her ability to sleep at night. She is treating going to bed like another nap. Try not having her nap and then putting her to bed a half hour earlier and see what happens. good luck!
J., let me recommend two books - Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, by Tracy Hogg, and Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Ferber. There are quite a few ideas in those books that you might find helpful. Good luck!
My son did this whenever I worked nights or had night classes. Nothing ever changed it, until my schedule changed. Even though he was with my parents and his dad, apparently he just needed mommy time, and figured out a way to do it. When my schedule would go back to more daytime hours his sleep pattern changed...usually after about a week.
We never had any luck TRYING to get it to change any other way. Note that we tried. It wasn't until my schedule had changed a couple times that we noticed the pattern. But it never failed. An hour or two home, ready to sleep & he would wake up. Sigh. What you do for love.
The only suggestion I would have is to increase here activity level in some sport--swimming for her age is good and in another year gymnastics. Daily long and I do mean long walks. Weekends spent in the parks spend looking at nature changing. The fresh air will help tire her out.
And forget any naps, even if she falls asleep in the car or on the floor. I know they are probably a refuge for you, but if you stop them totally then she will be more tired at night.
