I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

I don't know what to do anymore. My 3 year old doesn't sleep anymore. It takes me 2+ hours to get him to sleep and then he wakes up at 6 a.m. So that means if I'm lucky he sleeps from 10 or 11 to 6. He doesn't always nap anymore and if he does it's only for a short while. I have tried letting him cry, reading him another story, singing one more song, nothing seems to help. I need advice, suggestions anything. Also any tips on how to get them to sleep later.

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

what time do you start to try to put him down for the night?

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

Normally at 8 but since he started giving us problems I've tried pushing it back to 8:30 or 9 to see if that helped and it didn't seem to make a difference.

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

Is he afraid of something? Have you tried giving him a flashlight? Or sometimes, I actually notice Ava goes down easier when I put her down earlier because she can't fall asleep when she's overtired.
Do you adhere to a bedtime routine? That helps for Ava. It consists of taking a shower around 7pm, then drying her hair, reading three books, talking about our favorite part of the day, then what we're looking forward to tomorrow, hugs and kisses and off to bed. It's the same exact thing, every, single night. But it's that routine that helps calm her and get her ready to go to bed.
I read Ferber's Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, and I go back to it often because it has fantastic suggestions in it for things you can do to get your child of any age to sleep on their own.

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

Yes he has a definite routine before bed. We can not differ from it at all. lol . I didn'tknow that Dr. Ferber also gave advice for toddlers I thought it was only infants I will definitely get it. I've thought of putting him down earlier but thought that it might be worse. I will give it a try though. So what time do you end up putting her down?

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

I would actually start his bedtime routine earlier since he may be overtired by bedtime because he has given up long naps. Sometimes I find that when I put them to bed earlier they go easier and sleep later.

GL

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

I know every child is different, but for Aly..(age 3 also) if she goes to sleep TOO LATE she wakes up earlier...doesnt sleep later. I know it makes no sense...but the more she sleeps, the more she wants to sleep, the better she sleeps. If she naps that day - she will go to sleep easier at night and wake up later. I would try putting him down earlier. We start bedtime routine at 7 and shes in bed by 7:30 every night.

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

Thanks everyone. We put him down at 7:30 so I'll let everyone know how it goes. What should I do if he doesn't go stay down? Should I ignore him? Should I go in there?

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

So how'd it go? I was thinking about you tonight as I was struggling with Ava. I swear, we missed her bedtime by 45 minutes because we were out, and she was a mess. And she's never been like this before, but I've noticed that since she's been three, sticking to bedtime has become a necessity. Go figure. I used to be able to make her just cry herself to sleep to tire herself out, but now that she knows she can get out of bed and open the door, there's not much I can do. I usually know that when she's that upset at bedtime, I need to spend a little more quality time with her in her bed so she feels secure.

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

So last night was a sucess. He went to sleep at 7:30 and stayed in bed. I didn't have to make 50 trips upstairs. He slept until 6:45 which is a little bit later than normal. I'm nervous that it was just a fluke so we will see what happens tonight. Wish me luck.

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

That's great! I was going to suggest putting him to bed earlier!

Re: I need sleep help for my 3 yr old. I'm desperate!

glad it went well..hopefully it continues!!