So, my daughter turned 3 recently (November 21st) she stopped napping when she was around 2.5 so she hasn't napped during the day for some time now. I thought that with her no longer wanting to have a nap... Bed time would be much easier, it seems to have become harder. Daisy will get out of bed in the morning between 6am and 8:30am, she starts to get tired between 1pm and 3pm, she starts with the usual screaming, moody, misbehaving. Her routine is the same every day but I don't know if I should make some changes to it? What do you think? Wakes up between 6am and 8:30am. Breakfast 30 minutes later (between 6:30am and 9am) She will play for a while/go to the park. Have dinner at 12:30/1pm. Play or watch TV. 3pm she starts to get tired. Has her tea. Bath between 4pm/5pm. Bedtime at 6pm. But that's when the fun begins... She will watch a film in her bed for about an hour, then she will make every excuse she can think of to get out of bed. She needs her nappy changing (no judging please, she's not ready for the potty) She needs a drink. She wants to see daddy. She wants to see what mummy is doing downstairs. Either that or she will run around her room, kick her door, climb onto her window ledge and cry because she can't get down. After all this commotion she doesn't end up sleeping some nights until about 10pm. Last night she didn't sleep until 11:30!! I'm going crazy! What can I do?!
I personally would ditch the film and have cuddles and stories. My daughter was (and still can be) a pain around that age. I think they can end up very overtired and this can make them play up more and make it more difficult to wind down but the light from a TV/tablet is continuing to stimulate them whereas having a story read is a bit more calming. X
I was thinking the same thing myself but then I know if I don't put her TV on she just screams for it. Catch 22! I think I will give story a go tonight and see how she reacts... X
Yeesh, sounds hard going! I don't have any particularly useful advice, but to say, if she absolutely won't go without the film, to get a blue light filter for the screen (you can download these as apps!) - the light from screens inhibits production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, so it's best to either not look at a screen 2 hours before bed in favour of winding down the brain, or at least tone down the blue light. I just know this as a raving insomniac myself lol
Could you take the tv out of her room? It might take a few nights of upset but she would soon get used to the idea it's not there. I agree with above that stories are much more calming and it's nice one on one time
I would start to wake her at a consistent time in the morning. There's a massive variation in waking times, which will obviously affect when she gets tired later on in the day. When my eldest was that age we had tea around 5pm played for a short while afterward then bath and bedtime for 7pm Def ditch the tv in her room- it's a massive overstimulator to her Perhaps watch something together downstairs then start a quiet bedtime routine of bath/ stories and then then lights out. Consistency is the key. If you know she is tired when you put her to bed then every time she gets up just put her straight back down It could take a few weeks to get her in a new routine, but at that age they know that they're messing you about, and you guys just need to be firm
Instead of the tv you could try a cd player and play music she likes (nothing too stimulating/up tempo lol), or audio kids books.
