3Year Old Wont Sleep at Night

Ditch the nap for now (maybe forever) and DON'T put movies on. Some people I know have even tried putting them to bed at what seems like a ridiculously early time and it seems to work for some magical reason. If he has no nap that day, it just might work. Good luck!

I have had similar issues with my 2.5 year old son. He has never been the best napper and resisted going to bed for some time. Especially after we transitioned him into his own room with a big boy bed that he could freely get in and out of on his own. We have done a couple of things:
1) keep the routine constant and help him to learn to fall asleep on his own without the aid of music, TV or rocking. We lay him in his bed, let him know that it is time to sleep read a book or 3, sing or hum to him, turn out the lights and tell him good night and not to get out of bed until the morning. If he does get out of bed, we put him back in and tell him good night. This could go on for a while. I really don't remember exactly what it was like in the begining, but I remember what worked was not really interacting with him. Just but him in his bed and say goodnight, time to sleep, whatever so that he knows that he is to be in his bed.
2)I have given up on naps. Some days he naps, somedays he doesn't. It is not worth it to me to have us both stressed out and fighting about it everyday for a1-3 hours. I do the same routine as bed time everyday. If he doesnt nap, then i may give in and let him have some quite time watching a movie....sometimes he will fall asleep during the movie- but 95% of the time, I can be assured that he is haveing at least 1.5 hours of resting.
3) We have recently purchased a stop light alarm clock for his room which has helped the process tremedously. At night or nap time, we turn the alarm on- which is a red light. He knows that when the light is red it is time to be in his room. When the alarm goes off, the light turns green. He knows that when the light is green he can come out of his room.
Prior to the light, we had other similar mechanism to let him know when he can come out of his room and offerered prizes when he stayed in his room until the designated time.

You and your husband first need to come up with a plan, then both stick to it.
I had altered our routine at one point in time...and it really frustred both my husband and son when my husband would put him to bed and didn't do the same thing as I was. Since my husband is the one who puts him to bed the most...I go with his routine. I have learned through trial and error that routine and consistnacy is key.....

Welcome to 3! I swear its worse then 2. A tv/movie in the bedroom is horrible habbit for anyone to get into so I'd start by taking that out. A bedroom should peaceful and quiet. Try some classical music or some white noise.
My 3 yr old goes to bed in his room every night is thankfully out before I finish reading a book to him. He does wake up at night and comes in the bed without waking us. I don't mind having him hop in he won't be doing it forever. I would guess the best way to approach this is the method the SuperNanny uses. Walk him back to his room without saying a word over and over and over again until he finally goes to bed. He will eventually get it that you aren't going to give in. Heck I'd pitch a fit if I knew it meant I'd get rewarded by mom/dad turning a movie on for me so I'd stop that asap. If he wakes up during the night same thing walk him back without saying anything to him.
If he does not already have a clock get him an alarm clock and set it tell him once he is in bed that he cannot leave his room until it goes off except for the bathroom.

I'm right there with you with my 3yr old daughter. I'm ready to ripe my hair out. She just won't sleep unless she's in our bed or if one of us is in her bed. A good LOOOOONG bed routine has helped. My husband normally reads to her for half an hr while cuddling with her followed with me singing to her for 20 minutes while I cuddle with her. She still wakes up at 4/5am and climbs into our bed. But that's the best we can do right now.
As for noon naps, that just isn't going to happen and I just gave up that fight.
Hope you have better luck.

My daughter just turned 4 and she doesn't nap for us (she does at daycare). She has always been a bit of a night owl. Putting her to bed NEVER works. We do have her lay down at a certain time at night (we discovered that earlier or later does not work, there is a small window of the right time). Once she lays down and stays still for just a few minutes, she's out. Then we carry her to her bed and she stays there (for the most part).

get a gate to put up in his door way to keep him from leaving the room for starters...he'll scream for this which will wake you obviously, 1st time tell him, it's night time, and take him back to bed, and walk away 2nd time, repeat, after that, don't say a word and take him back to his bed...don't let him nap except at scheduled times, eventually he'll be so exhausted his body will shut down FOR HIM

there's a tv show on that i absolutely LOVE it's called super nanny....her name is jo, and most the shows i watch are over this exact problem, may give you some good ideas and not one method of her dicipline is corporal and she COACHES parents, she does not do it for them

First, he may not need the nap anymore. Try taking it out and see if he's crabby or if it helps him be more tired at bed time.

Do you have a night routine? I would start there. If you don't want him in your bed, then each time he shows up there, put him back in his. EVERY time- same thing if he's at your door- put him back in his bed. No conversation, no explanation, just put him back give him a kiss and walk away.

Honestly... this is why I feel strongly that children should have "their sleep space" from day 1. Old habits are really hard to break and this one is going to take you a while. Be consistent in your approach, but make it clear that he sleeps in his room.

Tantrums are what toddlers do- he'll get over it and you'll get through it, but each time you let him sleep in your bed you are reinforcing the idea that if he gets upset you'll let him stay.

Hi N.. The first ting I'd do is ditch the nap. My oldest was done with napping just before she turned 3. He may genuinely not be tired. Skip the nap and try putting him to bed an hour earlier. Put him down with a movie? Bad idea. Kids don't need to be trained to fall asleep to t.v. They should have a consistent and pleasant bedtime routine. Give him something where he can control his own music if he wants it. I agree that if you want him to stay in his room, you'll need to gate him in there and deal with the tantrums it comes with til he gets over it. If he calls for you, just call back from your own room without seeing him that you are sleeping, nightime is for everyone to stay in their beds and sleep, goodnight, see you when the clock says 6:30.

He doesn't need to nap anymore!!