My almost 3 year old has dropped her nap. She is usually at the yawning, ready for bed stage around 6. She refuses to go to bed then (as the rest of us are eating dinner, daddy's coming home, etc.) I usually get her into bed around 7, but I know it's too late. She wakes around 4:45-5 almost every morning. It doesn't help that our puppy needs to go out around this time. They are both waking each other up.
I need suggestions on getting them both to sleep until 6! Yesterday puppy was up at 4:30! and he woke up the toddler! I tried to keep puppy up later last night, but he's ready for bed around 7. We usually put him out around 8 and then again around 11.
Ideas on shifting both of their schedules? My other kids are getting up early too because of all of the noise! It's not uncommon for everyone ( but my husband) to be up and running around at 6. It's crazy! They use to sleep until 7:30-8.
A giant thanks to those of you who seem to understand that my toddler isn't getting enough sleep. This isn't about me, and my parenting. There is nothing to suck up here. I wake up at 5, so I'm up. I go to bed after I take away my oldest's light at 8:30-9. I'm doing what needs to be done here and not complaining about it. I'm concerned about my toddler not getting enough sleep. I'm concerned about the dog and toddler waking everyone else up early. My son needs 11 hours a night, and he is getting woken up too early.
But when she woke at 4:30 yesterday, she was crying --she was tired. This morning at 4:45 she threw a fit when i tried to get her to go back to sleep. She did for 20 minutes, but again, she is tired. She did nap yesterday (we went swimming she so was super exhausted), and she went to bed after 8. They say an early wake up time means bedtime is too late....
I guess I will start doing some real research on how to shift a toddler's sleep schedule. When my son was this age he would just go to bed at 7:15 and sleep until 8. My oldest would sleep till 7. This girl is tired. She isn't rested when she wakes up, yet, she rarely naps.
I have no problem with the puppy needing to go out. Like I said, I get up at 5. My issue is that he is waking her up and she is waking him up. He is in a crate, but our room is next to hers. Moving the crate to another location isn't really an option. We are in a small ranch, so at least with it in our room we can close the door and contain some noise. Otherwise, the rest of the main level is open.
Put her to bed at 8:30. You have to break the pattern, and this is the best way.
Can you put a noise machine in the toddler's room and close the door? And keep the puppy farther away from the toddler's room? Have a gate that prevents the puppy from getting near her door?
Can you put the puppy's crate somewhere far away from the toddler's room? And how about putting a white noise machine in the toddler's room? If I put my kids down at 7 at that age they were definitely up at 5 for the day. Both my kids dropped their naps right this age and I did not put them down for the night until 8. Good luck!
um. your puppy has a puppy-sized bladder. just be grateful that he tells you and is such a good puppy that he doesn't just pee in the house like most puppies do.
you can't force a puppy not to need to pee.
i would have the 2 year old take an hour long rest every day, regardless of whether or not she slept.
if she goes to bed at 7, she's slept for 10 hours. of course she's ready to wake up. she needs a rest break during the day and a later bed time.
ETA i was waiting for the 'you all are so wrong and just don't understand me' SWH. why ever ask since you already know?
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khairete
S.
Your daughter is getting 10 hours of sleep and since she is waking up on her own I think she is getting enough sleep. If I were you I would move her bed time to 8:00 pm. Then she should sleep into 6:00 am.
You use a crate? I watch my daughter's puppy a lot when they are out of town. I keep a light sheet over the crate and keep the crate in the family room as far away from the bedrooms as possible. She usually goes to sleep when we do around 9 and doesn't wake up until 8 or 9 in the morning. We also run her ragged during the day. My kids get up at night to use the bathroom, heck my son likes to pace in the basement. Because it is far enough away from her crate she doesn't wake up
When mine went to bed at 7 pm (someone advised me to do this) they woke super early - around 5 am. So I figured out that was just too early, and put their bedtimes back.
8 pm worked better for me.
I used to let mine rest (a book, or even a tv show) after lunch - they did that at our daycare too. That seemed to help them stretch out the day longer until they adjusted.
I would do same with puppy, and just keep him away from the kids' rooms. Might mean that you have to jump up and deal with him quickly for a while until the new routine is in place, so the others don't get disturbed.
I know some kids refuse to nap but really they still need it.
Our son napped till he was 7 yrs old (he was SO grumpy in the afternoons after they dropped naps in 1st grade but he napped on the weekends) and even now (he's 17) he'll sometimes come home from school and lay down for 30 min.
She's getting close to 10 hrs sleep, so really only an hour or two more is all she needs.
Run her and the puppy around mid morning outside, then do lunch, then quiet time for an hour or so - she might nap then.
In the afternoon - same thing - run them around outside as much as you can.
Lay down with her - everybody nap!
Our son went through a phase where he resisted naps.
I'd tell him nap time - he'd say 'No'.
So I said the nap wasn't for him - it was for me - and he could stay with me if he could be quiet.
He never liked being in any room without me so he'd come with me, be quiet and we'd both end up sleeping for awhile.
If she's in bed from 7 to 5 that's ten hours, no wonder she's ready to get up.
Just because she's yawning and cranky in the evening doesn't mean she's ready for bed. Sure she may be tired (and YOU may be ready for her to go to bed) but really I think if you want her to sleep later you need to put her to bed later.
As far as early waking either tell her to go back to bed, that it's not time to get up yet, OR do what we did which was just let our kids come in to bed with us and go back to sleep or just rest until it was time to get up.
Somewhere in the book of parenting it says you can't have both toddler free evenings and a late wake up time. Be happy with that ten hour stretch and decide which is more important to you.
If you pick sleep (I would) then keep her up a couple of hours later, she'll shift eventually. Crate the puppy, keep it far from her room.
I'm finding the idea of unsupervised 'quiet play' time for a not-even-three year old very inadvisable. VERY inadvisable. Like, fantasyland inadvisable. I've had brilliant friends try to teach their young ones this so they can get more sleep-- you will be up anyway. Who sleeps well knowing a toddler is up and doing things?
Little Guy used to sleep until about 5 or so and then be up. Guess what? So was I. Part of being a parent is parenting our kids. I encourage you to have some internal fortitude, change the dog situation, try for a later nap, try stretching the evening... but an unattended toddler is just trouble waiting to happen. Expecting a small preschooler to just keep themselves busy in their room? No.
I think your best bet is a mandatory quiet time for the toddler - if she won't sit on her bed, see if you can get a little cot or one of those foam chairs that looks like a mini-version of a standard living room chair. My stepdaughter had one for each kid, and the bottom cushion lifted up and folded out, creating a sort of chaise lounge. The kids would crawl in their with a book, a pillow and a little afghan, and half the time they would doze off. It was easier than "enforcing" a nap when they are resisting it. Tell her she doesn't have to sleep, but she needs to rest her body and have book time. You can also put on a calming CD if you have a small player, but have it play endlessly so she isn't getting up to change it. If she naps, great. If not, she'll at least recharge a little and not be yawning at dinnertime. If you can put her to bed a little later, sometimes that works. Is her room super dark? The rising sun sometimes signals "play time!" to them. You could also get a white noise machine (we use one of those allergy air filters - not sure it does much to soak up house dust but it was on sale and it makes a constant sound to drown out the early morning traffic like the paper delivery guy and the two neighbors who are out jogging and chatting super early.
How old is the puppy? Where is the puppy sleeping? Too close to her room? Can you change that? Puppies have to go out in the middle of the night - that's just how it is. Same as a baby getting up to feed and be changed. Take the puppy out at the last possible moment (11 PM or whenever, and see if you can keep it in a dark area or put a blanket over its crate. If they hear the birds chirping or sense the sunrise, it's all over. But there's no way he should be running around and waking everyone else up. You or your husband need to take the pup out right away (yeah, I know - no one's moving fast at 4:30 AM except the pup!) but you've got to get him out and quiet before the kids wake up. I'd try to put him back in the crate with something safe to occupy him - a Kong stuffed with peanut butter or some sort of quiet chew toy that's safe when someone's not watching. Ask the pet store or vet. If the dog is sleeping with you, you don't want a toy that involves a lot of licking or chewing, as that will keep you from going back to sleep too!
7:00pm is way too early for bedtime. At the age of three my kids slept 10 hours at night with no naps during the day. Bed at 10:00pm, up at 8:00am, quiet time/rest late afternoon before supper. When she is yawning and tired at 6:00pm I would take her outside to play for a while to wake her up. Then start the bedtime routine at a more reasonable hour. Aim for a bedtime closer to 8:00 or 9:00pm if you want to sleep until 6 or 7:00am.
I would let her stay up later. She is sleeping 10 hours per night. That's a long stretch, and I think it's unrealistic to expect her to sleep longer than that at night. So, my suggestion is to let her stay up until 8.
Do you keep the door to her room closed at night so that the puppy can't wake her?
My daughter stopped taking naps at that age. I tried to make her but she just couldn't sleep. It only made things harder for me trying to make her take a nap when she couldn't go to sleep. You may have to let her stay up later. Try 7:30 and if that doesn't work try 8. I've learned later that my daughter is a night owl. At 9 she goes to bed at 8:30 and I will read to her until around 9 then it's lights out. Sometimes I will hear her in her room twisting and turning until 10. She's in school so she has to go to bed.
You could try telling her that even though she's not sleepy to lay there and rest for a while. I used to do that when my daughter was younger. It worked sometimes and sometimes not.
I can't help with your puppy. Good luck!!
I agree with the consensus that she probably will not sleep more than 10 hours at a stretch, so you need to start that 10 hours a little later in the evening. If she goes to bed at 8, she would be getting up at 6, which is still early, however a slightly more tolerable time. Another option is to tell her that if she wakes up before 6 (namely if it is still dark outside), she needs to do quiet activities in her room.
Also, it might be helpful for her to have a designated rest time, an hour in the middle of the day when she lies down, reads in a chair, listens to stories or music on CD, colors--any quiet activity which lets her wind dow for a bit in her room. That rest period will help her stay up a bit later too.
I know the burning-the-candle-at-both-ends scenario which you are experiencing far too well. Good luck with adjusting the routine!
Well, this is why kids need to keep their nap.
You need to do lunch then go into a quiet room with her and lay her down to watch a non energetic movie or TV show or have reading time or something quiet. Also a darkened room wouldn't hurt.
Get her back in the habit of taking a nap.
Toddlers don't sleep 14-15 hours straight.
She goes to bed at 7 she's going to wake up around 4 or 5 or 6 for the day.
SO, put her down for her nap day after day after day. Then put her down to bed later in the evening. Put the puppy in a bathroom with a solid floor away from the people. Then when you get up for the day take the puppy outside. I know you're trying to train the puppy but sometimes paper training them is important too.
you are completely right about how sleep is done for kids -- they need 12 hours at night and a 3 yr old should also have a 2 hour nap, for a total of 13 to 15 hours at that age -- aim for a 7 pm bedtime, and don't let her give up naps either. You may also want to get one of the clocks that has a green light come on when it's ok to get out of bed.
I could have written this myself years ago. My son was a horrible sleeper and has been an early riser from the beginning (he's almost 8 now).
You can't make them sleep, as you know. And sometimes, you can't make them stay still for "a rest". I never had success with that.
So the new rule becomes, keep them in their room and quiet until 6am (or whenever you want to wake).
Get one of the alarm clocks that lights up when it's time for her to get up. She can't leave her room or get out of bed until it goes off. She can look at books, color, etc... But she has to stay quiet in her room. That's one thing my kids grasped well at that age.
