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Trying to cancel out nap time for my almost 4 y/o, it's not working right! Plz help.

Tifani - posted on 06/22/2012 ( 1 mom has responded )

My youngest who has proven to also be my hardest child, went through a faze where she was coming and sleeping in my bed every night for awhile, I recently resolved this issue and started cancelling out nap times during the day. I have a terrific problem though, most days she is getting up at 6/6:30a which is fine, however some days (I would say 2 to 3 out of 7) she falls asleep early at say 6:30p instead of 7p, then she proceeds to wake me up at least 1 time during the night, then is up at 4:30a. On these days I make her take an hour nap around 12/12:30p because otherwise she will be falling asleep at 3 to 4p. After she has taken this nap she will then be up until 8 or 9p, to then wake at her usual 6/6:30a! It kinda seems like a vicious circle, what should I do?

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Heather - posted on 07/10/2012

My son is kind of the same way. He still takes naps almost everyday because if he doesn't, he is an absolute bear to deal with. He will also fall asleep at 6-7pm if I don't keep him busy. His usual bed time is between 8-9pm. The problem that I have with him is that he gets up between 6-7am at the latest, no matter how late he stays up. I let him stay up with me until 10 the other night to watch a movie, and by 730am the next day, he was in my face waking me up. The only reason this is a problem is because I do all of my school work after he has gone to bed so that I can fully concentrate on my work. I think I have found the right combination though to get him on a sleep schedule that works for me.

Now before I start, I would just like to throw in that my child and I co-sleep, and have for the past 2 years. We live with my grandparents, and there's really no space for him to have his own room.

We get up between 630 and 7. I make breakfast, and we head outside. I try to keep him busy, let him get out as much energy as humanly possible until 1130. Then he takes a nap. Since it's still early, and he hasn't had enough time to run out so much energy that he's so tired he can't stand himself, he generally doesn't take a long nap. Maybe an hour and a half. Then he is up until 8 or 830, which gives me plenty of time to do what I need to do before it gets so late that I feel I would get more sleep if I didn't sleep at all.

This may not be of much help, but it works for me. My kid is also a pretty hard kid. He's autistic, and has more energy than many people I've met, not to mention myself. With him, one night's change in schedule can throw him off for a week, so I always have to be very careful with adjusting it. Good luck!