3 Year Old Sleep Habits

One thing I notice is that my kids (3 & 5) seem to sleep better and more solid through the night when I have play dates for them and they can run around with other kids. We have sleeping through the night issues as well a lot of times. But I find the days we keep fuller then I would personally like they sleep much better.

M.,
Here is what I do for the early morning risers, I go in quickly when I first hear them. Take them by the hand and (It might sound funny, but I make sure that I look tired, whisper and not open my eyes all the way) say something like,
"it is not time to get up yet, it's still sleeping time".
Right now is a good time to be doing this because the sun is on your side.
"See it's still dark outside".
Depending on the persistence of the child, you might get them to lay back down and go to sleep. Or you might have to say,
"Mommy is still sleeping, you can sleep or you can look at some books in your bed and then sleep".
To make sure that the sun is not waking him up, you might want to invest in room darkening blinds or curtains. They are great for summer months especially.
You could also try putting him down 11-12 hrs before he is waking up. Once you can get him to sleep that long again, then you can slowly move his bed time/wake time up by 15 mins every few days till you get to a reasonable time.
I also have a fan in each room. It masks "waking up world" noises. There just might be something that he can hear in the morning that no one else is aware of.
Also some times my kids wake up saying they are hungry. If this is the case, don't feed him a normal breakfast. Just give him a piece of bread and water, and then have him get back in bed and "rest". A lot of the times, just a drink of water will curb that starving feeling.

For the naps I call it Rest & Reading time. They get to "read" look at books for whatever age they are (in your case 2) while soothing music plays (I use classical). When they are finished with their books they lay still and quiet until the music is done. They can get up if they are still awake when it ends. Figure out how long you want her to be in there and time it by the music CD. If they get up before its done or are not being still and quiet then I start the CD over and Rest & Reading time is extended. Either way I get some quiet time and they do too, weather they sleep or not. And if it is extended, it doesn't bother me one bit! :)
I would keep trying to at least have some down time for him he needs about 14hrs of sleep in 24 hours.
Good luck
E.

I agree with the clock ideas below. I have just started implementing this w/ my 3 1/2 yr. old. Also, try to get him to bed earlier. When my son goes down earlier he sleeps later. He's been having some big growth spurts around 3 1/2 where he clearly needed more sleep (& he doesn't nap either). He usually is in bed 7:30-8:00 & gets 11.5-12 hrs. sleep. Good luck.

My son started this at 2 1/2. After a couple of months we got him a digital alarm clock. He just turned 3 in November. He knows what 7:00 is and know he can't get up until then. However, sometimes I hear "I know it's not 7" as he's walking down the stairs. But it is better.

Try making him lay down for at least 1 hr if not to sleep but to just lay in bed and rest. Give him a book to look at. Usually the best time is right after lunch. Eventually they get bored when there is nothing to but lay there and he will eventually fall asleep. If you could get him to sleep for at least an hr a day maybe he will get into a longer sleeping habit. A lot of the time its just there internal clocks and its very hard to turn them off. If he is a little hyper during the day try giving him some warm milk and then have him lay down. If that doesn't work. Then hopefully maybe if you keep him super busy and wear him out just before lunch then try laying down for a nap. Tell him its quiet time and there is to be no playing just relaxing. That age they get bored and will fall asleep. Good luck.

Instead of an expensive light or teaching our 3 yr old to read, we got a timer and a night light. He sleeps in the dark and the nightlight goes on when he can get up. He woke at 5 too, and first we set it for 5:15 and then just kept moving it back every 5 days or so. 6 seemed the latest we could go, but now when he needs it he'll sleep until 6:30 or 7 even with the light on. Good luck!

I had the same problem with my 3 year old and a friend suggested this gadget called the "Goodnight Lite" or something like that. It is a nightlight that you can set a clock in and tell it what time you want the color to change from blue to yellow. You can teach your child that when the "sun comes up" (or it turns yellow) that it is time to come out of your room. It only took my son a day or two to figure it out and reset his internal clock. We still hear him saying "my sun is up" when he gets up. You can slowly adjust it a few minutes each day because we all know that a kid is not going to stay in his/her room for 2 hours after they have woken up. It is kind of pricey for a nightlight but we'll worth it to avoid the constant 5am fights about going back to bed. Good luck!

3 may be too young, but I gave my 5 year old a backlit digital clock. I showed him where the "7" needed to be on the clock before he could "get up". I told him he could go potty if he needed to, but that he had to go back to bed and rest or read a book until it was time to get up. He was so proud of his grown-up clock and his ability to "tell time". We praised him for getting it right, as well. It worked like a charm. He's almost 10 now, and his biological clock still wakes him up by 6 or 6:30am no matter what time he goes to bed. Of course now, he can safely and quietly help himself to breakfast until others are awake. (He has 3 younger siblings.) Don't worry. Time really does fly! Before you know it, you'll barely remember these mornings. Best wishes!

we are going through this too. I gave him some toys in his room and told him to play with them if he gets up early. that worked for 3 days and now he is back to kicking the door and screaming. He knows he can get me if he says he has to poop (sometimes he really does) and then then tantrum comes when I tell him to go back to sleep. Now I just leave him in there screaming until the appropriate time to get up. I feel sorry for his sister who shares a wall, but that's all I could come up with. I'll be interested to read your responses.

We are going through the same thing. I know it is hard. Luckily her dad will lay down with her, because I get up at 5 AM every morning. Then she will go back to sleep. Good luck to you.

I have two early risers (just over three and two years old) - and learned from my MIL that my husband was one too. I think you can try many things and some may work. With my 3 year old, I will tell her it's still night time, and lie her back in bed - and often lie with her - this works about 75% of the time. Other times, I allow her to read in her bed, which usually keeps her still - but not back to bed. Have yet to try the alarm clock thing... but just might. There is a "monkey clock" out there that you can use to sleep train kids. A friend of mine swears by it. Google, babyzoo sleep trainer clocks. She said it works for her 2.5 year old.

Ultimately I think much of it has to do with their internal clock! Good luck and as one poster put it - this time will go fast, and someday I'm sure we'll have trouble waking them for school!!!