Oh! I was not going to answer any more questions this morning but I could not resist this one! This is MY daughter too! Only she is ten now...
As a healer and a teacher I have found over time that this profile actually fits an entire group of children - those of the choleric (and sometimes sanguine) temperament. These temperaments are known in Chinese medicine as fire and air. If you are not familiar with temperaments it is suffice to say that it is just a "type" of person.
Is she also a very bright and vibrant child who loves people and activities and always has an opinion? Does she seem to "know what she wants"? Is she very active and energentic in general?
It might just be normal for her to sleep fewer hours. My first two children took naps until they were 5-years-old. My youngest, stopped taking naps when she was 18 months old. It was amazing! However, she does go to bed like clockwork every evening - like a little wind-up toy that just ran out of "wind". This type of child sometimes just likes to go and go until they are "done" for the day.
With my daughter I found that what she needed more than naps was some quiet time every day - time without anyone else - with a book or some music or her toys or just sitting with me looking at pictures in books, something quiet. She would always go to bed early but then she would wake up early too and we had time together then before the other two woke up (I often wondered if that was her plan LOL).
She is still the same way. Over the years, however, I have taken the time to teach her how her moods are connected to her need for sleep and help her to identify when she needs sleep (or food). She would just play and talk to friends all day and forget to eat or sleep if it was up to her. I am the same way.
I guess the short response is - she actually needs less sleep. However, she also needs more quiet time and she needs to learn to identify when she needs to sleep - perhaps an earlier bedtime and an earlier rise time would be a good new rhythm for her as well. Sometimes new habits take a week to form, but once you start a pattern, it becomes ingrained in them and she will start to go to bed at the same time every night.
Adding a ritual to the pattern helps too - like reading two books before bed, taking a bath before bed, etc...
You can go to Cambell's and get this awesome bubble bath called "California Baby" that has essential oils of lavender or other oils. There is one called "calm" that is really good. Nobody can resist sleeping after taking a bath in that stuff! And bath time is a great time to connect with her - connections don't have to be playing together. Any time you are together you are connecting.
I read a story once in my anthropology studies about a culture of women that connected by brushing each other's hair - that was their time to connect and bond. I always thought that was so cool!
Blessings & Health,
K., Windsor Heights, Des Moines
2 Daughters 10 & 14, Son is 12
wwwHERBNHOMEcom