Desperately need sleep help for 3 yo

[MSWR0319]

DS has always been a bad sleeper. Lately it's awful. He's 3.5. He stopped napping, which I'm ok with, as long as he gets enough rest at night. But that is not the case. He is the crankiest, most defiant kid which is not his personality. If he does take a nap he's much more pleasant so I know this is sleep related. He gets up between 5:30 and 6, which I make him lay down till at least 6:30. He never goes back to sleep because he does everything he can to stay awake. He wakes numerous times at night. When I put him to bed he does all he can to stay awake. He'll sing, talk, roll over, play with his blanket, etc. I put him to bed around 7 if he doesn't take a nap, which usually gets him up about 6. I'd be fine with this except he's a bear! He still goes to his room for nap time, just does everything to stay awake. If I can get him to nap its about and hour, he goes to bed about 8, and will get up about 7, which results in a well rested child. How do I get him back to sleeping well? If I put him to bed later, he gets up earlier. I'm just so lost, exhausted, and tired of having a cranky kid. I feel bad because he's always getting in trouble. What does your 3 yo's sleep schedule look like?

[Nyfeara]

When DS1 was 2.5-3 yo, we had trouble getting him to sleep. Naps were pretty much non-existent on most days unless we were out & about in the car when he was tired. Having a set routine really helped us.

We would allow him to have his snack and watch the "Night Night" show on Sprout. He knew that once Caillou was done, he went up to bed. It really helped him to wind down. We still do something similar, but a different show of his choosing now. But he pretty much always heads upstairs by 7:30, brushes, pjs on, etc and into bed and asleep no later than 7:45-8. He wakes up 6ish.

We also have a "My Tot Clock". He knows what the yellow and blue colors mean and it does help, but it doesn't always make him stay in bed. We also used to never shut his bedroom door, but since DS2 came along, we do. That also seems to have made a huge difference in how well he sleeps thru the night. He has 2 little night lights in his room, has tissues by his bed, and a contigo cup with water. Having the tissues and water in reach has also helped a bit too.

We also used a responsibility chart when he was younger and one of the 'tasks' was sleeping thru the night or getting ready for bed without any issues, etc. He was into it for a little while and then lost interest. He's easier to reason with now and understands better that everyone needs their sleep to rest up for the next day, help us to not get sick, etc.

Honestly, we just kept trying combinations of things until something seemed to work consistently. We definitely had more success when we started the 'wind down' 30 mins before we took him up.

Good luck!

[wellyes]

Maybe he's not getting enough exercise? At the height of my sleep problems with DD, I would take her to the playground for an hour, then have her run the bases at the baseball field for a while. Then dinner, calm playtime, story, sleep. She loved it and it helped enormously.