Sleep/Naps - OT My Own Kid

[Hunni Bee]

Sorry sorry if this is repetitive - I did a tag search before I asked, didn't see anything that fit the situation.

DD's sleep patterns are CRAP. It is 6 pm where I am and she has been sleeping since 4:15 because she could not handle another second of being awake and I couldn't handle the screaming.

She is sleeping about 7 hours at night and only naps in the car or just out of pure exhaustion, like today. She is awake til 11 or 12 and refuses to nap during the day. She is so tired its ridiculous.

She gets up around 7:30 am and I put her to bed by 8 pm. I do not get home until 6:45 and even if we do a quick dinner, no bath and straight to bed thats still 7:15, so no ealier. She gets up and silently plays with toys or just lies there for hours. If I put her back to bed with no fanfare, she gets right back up a million times.

And she's not one of those "driven by a motor" kids...she is a puddle of meltdown half the day and during her naptime and at night she slaps herself, claws at her eyes, talks to herself, screams to stay awake. She also wants to eat constantly because she's getting being tired mixed up with hungry.

I don't know what to do at this point. I've tried putting her to bed super early, getting up super early, keeping her very active during the day, shutting the house down at 6 pm...she won't sleep but she's sooo tired.

Help!

[Ariana]

How old is she? Are you bringing her into your room when she wakes up? How do you know she is playing "silently"? Just trying to get a better picture of what is going on!

[spedmommy4]

How old is she? Are you bringing her into your room when she wakes up? How do you know she is playing "silently"? Just trying to get a better picture of what is going on!

I'll add to the list of questions, how long have you tried each strategy? For example, when you tried putting her to bed earlier or later, how many consecutive nights did you try it? (it takes time to get into the groove of a new routine and make it stick). Also, have you spoken to the pediatrician and ruled out medical causes?

And, any other developmental concerns? As a mom, I would be very concerned that she's hurting herself. That's outside the typical "keep myself up" kid behavior.

[Hunni Bee]

She's 2.5. I never bring her into my room unless she's sick. I know she's playing because I'll peek in and see her crouching on the floor with a toy or book, etc. She is not hurting herself purposely...but she will smack at herself or rub her eyes aggressively when she feels herself falling asleep.

I usually try each thing for a week or so. Her bedroom is not actually a bedroom...it used to be the dining room so there's no door. I know that's not the most ideal situation but I live in a 1 bedroom apartment and we're moving soon. It wasn't a huge issue until about a month ago...but she'd been slowly giving pushback about sleep for a while (crying at night, napping less, etc).

We haven't been to her ped yet because as I said it wasn't a big issue...it has really been a big deal in the last two weeks.

[Thriftylady]

I would go ahead and get the appt. Just to rule things out. But this was my DD! And she was a bear to deal with when she was tired. There were some things I did that helped some with the behavior. We cut way back on the sugar, and cut out as many dyes as possible. The dyes seemed to help some. But part of it was she just didn't want to sleep and I hate to say she had to outgrow that part. Up until she was 7 or 8, she would fight going to sleep and was always just nasty when she was tired. Sorry I am not more help.

[spedmommy4]

Agh, 2.5 is a fun age. When they get ideas, they tend to be committed to them. Operating on the theory that this is an "I don't want to sleep" behavior, my first recommendation is to stick out a strategy for at least 2-3 weeks. It's been my experience that a behavior generally gets worse, then slowly improves and tapers off, if what you are doing is effective. A week is such a short time that it's hard to know if what you were doing could have worked.

My own daughter went through this phase and here are some things that my husband and I tried, that worked
* all the toys get put up at night. Her room is dark and boring. I also used white noise- soft music worked well for my daughter but every child is different. I have a 16 month old in my care that can only sleep if I turn on a nature sounds app.
*. Make sure she cannot see you when you check on her. Every time you make eye contact, you restart the clock.
* keep a strict sleep/wake routine. Nap at the same time every day. Nap time should be for quiet rest even if she doesn't fall asleep. Then, Keep her up until bedtime. It will be totally miserable short term but worth it in the long term to get her on a good routine.
* you can also try a picture schedule if it's the routine itself she is resistant to. (Eg: she cries at the mention of bedtime) With a picture schedule, the schedule becomes the boss. You would have pictures of the things you do leading up to the offending one (bedtime or nap time) and you have her tell you what's next on the schedule.

Hope this helps

[Former Teacher]

The twins (3 almost 4 years old) that I nanny for have a very strict routine.

At 7:30 pm they get their jammies on. After everything is cleaned up and put away, they get to watch a 30 minute TV show (television is STRICTLY limited). After that, its brushing teeth, and potty time. Then each picks out 1 book. After storytime, we sing a Good Night song (with me it's You Are My Sunshine and with the parents Rainbow Connection),then kisses then bed. So by the time it's all and said and done, its around 8:30 (give or take)

The twins are up at 6:45 every morning. They have one of those clocks that stays if the clock light is yellow they have to stay in bed. Once it turns green, they can get up

They nap from 1:30-3:00. Naptime is about the same. We eat lunch, clean up. I pick out 1 book and then sing You Are My Sunshine. Give love and then off they go!

[Hunni Bee]

Agh, 2.5 is a fun age. When they get ideas, they tend to be committed to them. Operating on the theory that this is an "I don't want to sleep" behavior, my first recommendation is to stick out a strategy for at least 2-3 weeks. It's been my experience that a behavior generally gets worse, then slowly improves and tapers off, if what you are doing is effective. A week is such a short time that it's hard to know if what you were doing could have worked.

My own daughter went through this phase and here are some things that my husband and I tried, that worked
* all the toys get put up at night. Her room is dark and boring. I also used white noise- soft music worked well for my daughter but every child is different. I have a 16 month old in my care that can only sleep if I turn on a nature sounds app.
*. Make sure she cannot see you when you check on her. Every time you make eye contact, you restart the clock.
* keep a strict sleep/wake routine. Nap at the same time every day. Nap time should be for quiet rest even if she doesn't fall asleep. Then, Keep her up until bedtime. It will be totally miserable short term but worth it in the long term to get her on a good routine.
* you can also try a picture schedule if it's the routine itself she is resistant to. (Eg: she cries at the mention of bedtime) With a picture schedule, the schedule becomes the boss. You would have pictures of the things you do leading up to the offending one (bedtime or nap time) and you have her tell you what's next on the schedule.

Hope this helps

Thank you! She was a pill again today, but I had already decided to put the toys away and turn out the nightlight. She fought but was out in 10 mins! So hopefully that will help and I"ll get a white noise machine.

[spedmommy4]

Thank you! She was a pill again today, but I had already decided to put the toys away and turn out the nightlight. She fought but was out in 10 mins! So hopefully that will help and I"ll get a white noise machine.

Yay!! And you're welcome.

[Ariana]

Awesome advice from Spedmommy!! Agree white noise and a nice bedtime routine will help too. Brush teeth, Dim the lights, read a story (preferably about bedtime) and then a cuddle and bed. Turn on white noise. Routine is VERY important at this age and the wind down time is key.

Hope it continues to work for you!!