How to make bed time routine for my 3 years old boy?

Amanda - posted on 09/08/2012

What time are you putting him to bed? And is he napping? If he is napping cut the naps out completely. If not maybe bedtime is too early. I did the super Nanny method with my oldest when she was 2 1/2. It took a week and a half. It only get's harder as kids are older. This is why with my 2nd &3rd I did sleep training when they were infants. You have to be loving but firm.

Claire - posted on 08/21/2012

I went through this a lot with my oldest son, who is now 5 1/2 and goes to bed really well by himself and sleeps 10-12 hours a night, so he is proof it does get better!! I was sitting on his bed until he fell asleep when he was nearly three, which could take a couple of hours, and I was 8 months pregnant at the time trying to creep out of his room when he fell asleep!! We spent a lot of time working on changing the routine. We had this little step that we would sit on that started next to the bed, and just slowly moved it away from his bed until we were sat by the door, then outside the door where we could talk to him, but he couldn't see us, then halfway down the stairs... It took several months but eventually he didn't need us to stay there and he'd go to sleep on his own. He would still shout for more water or something to get us to go back upstairs most evenings, but then his brother moved into the bedroom next to his and we just told him he wasn't allowed to shout any more so he didn't wake his brother up, and now he is a superstar sleeper. It is hard and take a lot of work, but consistency is the key, as with any behavior change in a toddler. The amount of napping does make a difference too, we'd have a lot more trouble when he'd been to daycare and had a two hour nap, v no nap on the weekend at home with us.

The funny thing is we were so different with son number two, he went to bed on his own at two months old, and we've never had a problem with him going to bed. You learn from the first one!!

Lakisha - posted on 08/21/2012

I am having the same issue with my 4 year old, before he started daycare at age 2 he use to sleep at night. His nap time at daycare is from 12-2:30, I pick him up at 4:30 and he is wired. We usually go to the park for 1 hour, dinner, bath time than I try to put him to sleep. I am concern with why it is so hard to put him to bed at night and feel helpless. I even tried therapy and had test ran to see if he had ADHD, test came back negative. I wish I could be a stay home mom to get his sleep schedule tailor to my needs. If anyone have any suggestions or ideas please post.

Jessica - posted on 08/14/2012

i have the same problem with my son. he just turned 3. he doesnt take naps anymore and if he does it's around 6 and then he's up all night. so what iv been doing is when he tries falling asleep at 6 i keep him up so he's not able to take a nap even tho he gets cranky most of the time i do that he falls asleep at 9 or 10 if he has alot of exercise and playing off his energy as alot of people say he will be wiped out. so as hard as it is no naps and make sure he plays alot outside running around that sorta thing. and he should be tired at bed time.. hope this helps.

Kalhari - posted on 08/13/2012

thanks a lot for your reply, I cannot cut down afternoon nap, if I cut it down he sleep around 6 and again up around 9 with fresh.. then it is very hard again..

September - posted on 08/13/2012

Does he need the nap during the day? Maybe if you cut his nap he will go to sleep more easily at night. Good luck!