How do you get your sleep routine back on track?

How to get 3yr old's sleep back on track?

• IDK how it happened but somehow my 3 yr old daughter's sleep schedule got all screwy lol. She won't go to sleep until 11pm or even midnight and then she wakes up no sooner than 10am. She does not have a nap she quit taking those a few months ago and seems to be doing fine with that. But her sleeping got off track about a week ago and I don't even know what could have caused it. Should I just let her go to sleep when she wants tonight (11pm or 12am) and then wake her up at about 8am instead of letting her sleep until after 10am? Or try something else? Any and all suggestions and advice are really appreciated! Thanks! =)

• Answer:

  my 4 year old can stay awake longer than my husband and I can. We'd go to bed around 12:00 am and when we walked by his room we could hear him playing still. What we did to fix the situation is come up with a nightly routine. You dont know how important it is until you try it. We brush his teeth, let him pick a book, then he hops into bed. After the book we turn off the lite, leaving a night light on, and sing him 1-2 short songs. Then we kiss him good night and shut the door. He plays for a while, but never as late as he used to. He doesnt get out of bed unless he has to use the bathroom. If we sense that he is acting up, we go in his room, put him back in his bed and take whatever toy he was playing with away for the night. If he keeps coming up with excuses to leave the room (having to pee every 5 minutes, needs multiple drinks of water, curious where we are) we just take him back to his bed and close the door. It was a little hard at first cause he fought us, but we stuck to it and now it works like a charm.... unless he spends the night at his grandparents, then we have a night or two of struggle (what can you do, eh? grandparents are gonna spoil their kids). I wish my little guy would sleep in!!!! He's up as soon as the sun is up on most days. He comes bouncing into our room saying, "The sun's up! Why arent you?" An extra 30 minutes would be soooo nice. But I can see the issue with your little one sleeping until 10. Pick a time you want your little one to be up, then wake her up at that time everyday. Nip this habit in the bud early. You'll see enough of this when she's a teenager :P Perhaps the midday nap should make a come back, just to see if it helps at all. A short one. Just keep up with the fight, it's tough. Hopefully with a nightly routine and waking her at a proper time daily will help change her schedule. GOOD LUCK!