My daughter turned 3 in November last year. She has generally been a pretty good night sleeper and not a very good napper. Until recently, she will nap 3-5 days a week for about 2 hours at a time. He bedtime has been pretty consistent at 8 - 8:30 and she wakes around 7-7:30. I have accepted the fact that she doesn't need to nap daily as long as she is reasonably well-rested most of the time. In the last month, though, things have been falling apart. Two major changes might be affecting this: first, she has a new baby brother who is 11 weeks old, second, I've been giving her Claritin for about a week for her seasonal allergies.
Currently, she won't fall asleep until 9-9:30 and wakes before 7. She has also taken maybe 1 nap in the last week. Often after she wakes in the morning she'll hang out in bed or on the sofa with her covers, clearly still tired. The days are one long whine-festival. It's sooooo trying for me, sleep deprived as I am too.
Any suggestions on what I can try or tweak in her daily schedule to improve her sleep? Has Claritin made anyone else's child a little hyper?
Just trying to make the days a little better.
Thank you!!!
Thank you all so much! I'm grateful for the sensible observations and recommendations. I'll take her off the Claritin and move her bedtime earlier and see if that helps. I also like the suggestion of putting on a relaxing CD if she doesn't go to sleep during naptime within a reasonable period. I'd forgotten I used to use a CD to help her go to sleep.
As I said before, I'm fine with her giving up the nap as long as she can cope with the rest of the waking hours of the day reasonably well.
Again, many thanks!!!
We stopped giving our three-year-old Claritin for the same reason; it became impossible to get her to sleep at night. I even tried giving to her in the morning instead of at night, and it still was hard getting her to bed. We stopped altogether, and she's back to sleeping from 8pm to 730 or 8am most of the time.
I agree w/the others; take her off the Claratin cuz it really seems to have messed w/her sleep cycle. It is common for kids this age to drop naps altogether which is probably why your daughter was taking them 3-5 days/week. Stop the Claratin & get her back on her previous schedule. But I would suggest if she does want to nap, keep it to an hour, not the 2 hours you said she'll sleep a few times a week. Then put her to bed between 7p-8p. I know once our 2 boys stopped napping, I put them to bed at least an hour earlier. For our older son, he slept 2 hours before he stopped napping so I put him to bed 2 hours earlier to make up for the lack of nap. Our younger was only sleeping about an hour before he stopped napping so I put him to bed an hour earlier. You could try the same for your daughter, as well. Good luck!
Is the baby crying waking her up? Typically if someones sleep is inturrupted multiple times it just becomes too difficult to go back to sleep properly. I know that when my daughter (shes almost 3) wakes multiple times a night,like with an ear infection or just bad dreams, she is up earlier than usual. When we don't get our REM sleep, its just a mess!
Hi A.,
Medications are never tested on little ones (thank God) so no one really knows how a child will react to any of them. Doctors go with past experience from other meds, not much different that the ladies here sharing their experiences. ALL meds are synthetic and can contraindicate with anything that is your little one's system. It doesn't just have to be another drug. It could be the processing in a McDonald's hamburger. There is really no way to tell unless all things are taking into consideration. That means that this could be a stimulant to your child and put another child to sleep. It just depends.
I personally recommend removing as many stimuli as you can so your daughter's body doesn't have to try and fight these things off. Household chemicals weaken an immune system and part of that immune system strength is to give the ability to sleep restfully. We detoxed our home about 5 years ago and health and behavior changed for the better. I would specifically look at what is in her bedding and what you wash her sheets with. Most laundry detergents have some form of Chlorine bleach in them and that is a neurological toxin and stimulant.
Seasonal allergies are abnormal to the human body. They are regularly diagnosed that way because the natural things will cause problems if the immune system is too busy fighting off the synthetic things, from the chlorine bleach I mentioned to your perfume that your three year old cuddles up to. They all should be taken into account.
Regards,
M.
I have a 3 year old as well and he has a similar reaction to Benedryl. He will be extremely tired and just not be able to sleep he will usually whine and toss and turn until close to 6 hours after he is given it, but he has really bad allergies and has had hives a few times so he really needs it occasionally. Also I have a similar reaction to any type of decongestant and cannot sleep, so it could be the claritin. Everyone is different and her system might not accept it well. You might see if your dr will switch her to something else and see if she does better. We use Allegra and Nasonex together for my son and they work great with no reaction. Hope she starts sleeping again soon.
You don't say that the Claritin was prescribed by her doctor, so I am a bit unsure if she should be taking it. I just checked online for ages and find that it is recommended for six years of age and above. Most allergy meds have an effect on adults of either making them more 'hyper' or more drowsy, so I would think that giving the Claritin to your daughter is definitely a part of the problem you are having. Try other ways to alleviate her allergies. I also believe that whether a child needs to actually sleep during the day or not, a child of age three probably should lie down for at least an hour in the early afternoon. Try sitting with her, put on some quiet music, and help her lie still for ten to fifteen minutes. If she likes her back rubbed, do that. The main thing is to help her lie still and quietly for long enough that if her body does need the sleep, she'll relax and go to sleep. If she doesn't fall asleep after about fifteen minutes, have her still lie quietly... perhaps choose a music CD that runs for approximately an hour and tell her that she needs to lie still and rest until the music is done. That will help her avoid being overtired at bedtime. Being overtired can cause difficulty in going to sleep at night, or in getting the kind of sleep that really rests the body.
My son is 3 and also has allergies and his ped told us to try Claritin. It made him bounce off the walls and he could not sleep at nap or at night. Zyrtec was the same way for him. Some people's body digest the meds faster and this is why it makes them hyper. We have to stick to plain dye free Benadryl for his allergies because I like my son to sleep.
