My child use to be the easy one where you can lay her in bed and she would roll over and go to sleep fairly quickly. I use to tell people that she did well going to bed well now i want to open mouth and insert foot. She screams crys and tries to fight about not going to bed. she still takes a nap for about 1-2 hours a day. This nap is after luch so it not too late. Her bedtime is later than most kids her age and that is 9pm. If i try and lay her down earlier she screams until 9 and falls asleep. she does have a routine of bed, story then bed. She told me it was too dark i got a light, that was about a year ago then she said she heard scary noises outside so i got her music, that lasted a week. Now i am at wits end and just out of ideas. Does anyone have ideas?
So I got a different routine down, by 7:00-7:30 tv time is over and then we play a game take a bath read a book brush teeth and lay in bed i sit next to her bed and hold her hand for about 5 min to let her know that its ok i am not going anywhere, and everything will be ok. She listens to her music and has her light, also today she didnt nap but had a quiet time in her room with music and a babydoll and a few books but i told her she had to stay in her bed till the CD was over, it worked and she didnt sleep but by bedtime i could tell by the time we played the game she was tired but she wasnt admitting to it. We then read a book which i thought for sure she would fall asleep to but she didnt, she layed in her bed and within 6 minutes she was out. Thanks for all the help and suggestions!! :) hopefully this will continue!
Just for some of the people getting after other about the age. In some heading (not ont the respond) heading it does not have the age.
You didnt mention how old she is...maybe she doesnt need the afternoon nap? My daughter is 4 and only takes a nap everyother day or on an especially active day...
Maybe a blanket or stuffed animal for security?
Let the bedroom door open
Tell her what you expect from her- Its bedtime. Mommy is downstairs. your job is to sleep so you can grow big and strong. If you scream there will be a consequence (if you think this is all behavioral and not truely fear) and then you must follow through
Good luck!L.
it says in the main headline her daughter is 3
I don't know how old your daughter is, but my daughter is almost 4, and if she takes a nap she can't go to sleep by 9. I have to literally keep her up through that "droopy" time when she wants to take a nap because if I don't, she's up until midnight. She's not allowed any tantrums, so she just lays in bed, but I feel bad if I go in and see her staring at the ceiling or reading 2 hours after I put her down when I thought she was asleep!
It's normal that she used to want to go right to bed and now she doesn't. Kids are always changing. If your daughter is allowed to scream until 9 when you put her down earlier and then fall asleep, you should just let her do that. If you don't want her to scream and fight about bed, you should enforce discipline consistently in the very first moment she starts so she realizes it's never allowed.
It's normal for her to ask for stuff and act scared and all that. Decide how much "routine" you want at night and what she's allowed to ask for and where the line is. Then set the rules and enforce the rules. She'll get used to it! Good luck!
Bribe her!! My daughter was the same way... great going to bed for years than all of a sudden she would fight it. What finally worked for me was promising her something if she went to bed without crying for Mommy. The first time I promised her something good- I would take her to a restaurant for french fries and ketchup (fast food because we very rarely go). It worked.. than the next day something pretty good- like an indoor play place for kids. After that it was just the park- I would just stop there with her after running to the grocery store or a trip to the library. As it became a habit for her to sleep without calling me again the routine has now become- a what are we going to do tomorrow conversation after reading a book. I don't promise her anything anymore we just talk about what we are doing the next day even if it's just going to school or Nana coming over for dinner. I think it's just the age and a power struggle. Good luck!
With my kids we always do the same routine before bed to get them ready to settle down. Even when we travel we go through the same steps so they know it's time to move into sleep mode. Of course it doesn't always work if they are especially excited about something or not really tired, but for the most part, they are pretty simple to settle down. We always include several books so they have to sit down to pay attention. It has also helped with my daughter's learning to read. Now I have her read for 15 min to me before I'll read to her. Usually she's so tired that we don't even get to have me read very long.
Hi,J.:
How old is the child?
Just want to know. D.
It's funny, I do see that you posted that your daughter is 3, I'm not sure why other's don't see it?
Anyway, when my now 5 year old daughter was 3 she did the same thing. We realized that she really didn't need to take her nap anymore. On the days she napped she would stay up playing in her room until 10:00, but on days that there was no nap she would be sound asleep by 8:30. Now, like I said she is almost 5 and still takes naps. We've accepted that she will be up later at night because of it, but the truth is that I want my "quiet" time or "break" in the middle of my day and not at the end of my day. I fear that you are probably in the same position that I was with her at 3. You'll need to decide when you prefer for her to sleep, middle of day or early in the night! If you choose night, then maybe you could tell her to play quietly in her room until the "timer" goes off, or to sit quietly on the couch and watch a movie everyday instead of napping! Good luck with this one, remember that they grow up, but at this young age you still need to be in control of her!
Perhaps you could post what age she is; I think that would be helpful for those giving advice.
I only have time for a quick one but my SIL used to use a trick on her four year old...she would say, "Come, time to RELAX"...would NEVER say the "B" word. lol
We let our dd pick out books and sit in bed "reading" them until she falls asleep (usually 15 minutes later). It helps if you let the kids pick book, stuffed animal, etc...gives them a sense of control.
:)
