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4 year olds and sleep
How much is/ was your 4 year old sleeping?
For the longest time we take dd up to bed at 7:30. After getting ready and reading its about 8 when we leave. She would be fine and lay down and I assume she would fall asleep soon after (was quiet). She has never been a big napper so not sure how much at daycare.
Lately it's like she needs so much less sleep. She fights going to bed and will come out of her room 50 times. Sunday night she didn't go to sleep till after 10. Last night it was pushing 9:30. Yet she is up today at 5:50! It just seems awfully late for a kid her age when she wakes so early. I don't think she is napping more at daycare. I don't even think she has napped at all most days this week at least.
Id say the last few months she has been going to bed a little later but the last month has been so much worse.
The bedtime fighting and going to bed is driving me nuts! Any thoughts or advice?
Re: 4 year olds and sleep
On average, Heather has been sleeping 10-11 hours in a 24 hour period for a long time. She did nap at daycare for part of the time that she was four, but I don't think she has since she turned 5 and maybe before. Her teachers commented that she would wake up from a short nap *really* cranky and on the days she didn't nap, she wasn't moody. So since she wasn't napping at home we said that she didn't need to nap at daycare if they thought it wasn't a good idea.
During the week she sleeps from 8:30/9pm until 6:30am. On the weekends, we try to maintain the same bedtime but we let her sleep as late as she wants. I'm pretty sure she plays for a while in her room, but I think she wakes up between 7:30 and 8. When she goes to bed late, she will sleep later.
Sadly, Todd sleeps even less. His schedule sounds like Miss E's. He fights sleep like the dickens and still wakes up early. He does nap at daycare, but never naps for us on the weekends. And he only sleeps in on the weekends about 50% of the time. Though we are slowly teaching him to play quietly in his room on Saturday/Sunday so at least we can sleep!
It has helped a little to tell him that if he doesn't go to sleep, we won't wake him up early enough to watch a show in the morning. But he still stalls with long bathroom trips, etc.
I have been debating using that coin chart that lala posted a few weeks ago. I'm just not sure that it would actually be motivating to Todd. A reward chart didn't work for him with potty training.
I keep reminding myself that it is our job to provide the routine and the opportunity for sleep, but we can't actually force our children to GO to sleep. That's why there is a book called "Go the f*&k to sleep". ;-)
bed time for us was always less then easy.
Maybe 6 months ago it seemed to get worse again. One night we went some where and bed time was pushed and he didnt fight or anything. So I decided to try for 9 rather than 8. again it was easy. We have been on a 9pm bed time ever since and he hardly fights at all. there are some nights he seems wound up, and if we are out somewhere he doesnt want to give up parts of our "routine" to get in bed on time but for the most part it has been much better.
I fought it because i was loosing an hour of MY night, but i realized what good was that hour anyway if I was fighting with him to get in and stay in and go to sleep anyway!
He has always woke up at 7-7:30am NO MATTER WHAT. Even when he stayed up til 2 am with his cousin when we went out with our Nephew for his 21st, he was up by 7:45. ( he did have a very rare nap that day - we havent had regular naps since 18 months- and did get very crabby and nap the next day too)
He will actually have to get up a little earlier for school so I am hoping we can 1. stick with the 9 pm bed time for a while or 2. move it back to 8:30 at least!
Good Luck!
Married, September 23, 2006