Our 3 year old son had always been great at bedtime. Books, lullaby,kisses good night and then he'd put himself to bed. The last week or so, he is out of contol... jumping, laughing and screaming (playlike). Just wired. He has not had any sugar or any food I think would do this. It takes us forever to calm him and get him down. Unfortunately, what should be a restful bedtime becomes a tension filled, frustrating sometimes angry experience for all. Has anyone experienced this? Had any suggestions? One note: 4 year old sister's room is right next door. She's a fairly sound sleeper, but can't sleep through it all! THANK YOU
NOTE: he goes to daycare/preschool and they have naps, so unfortunately I can't skip them. We do on the weekends however, and he isn't much better....
If your son is still having nap time you may want to shorten or reschedule naps a little earlier.
It is just a stage, he will get back on his sleep schedule eventually. He still needs the naps, hell just get overtired and it is even worse. Just be patient and try to play some quiet music and continue the bedtime routine.
I really feel for you on this, I'm going through the same thing! My daughter turned 3 in April and lately naps and bedtime are a battle. Without a nap, she's a mess all afternoon though! I've tried to keep things as calm as possible in the evenings, like we'll play a family board game after dinner, and then do our bedtime routine. Once I leave, sometimes she'll sit up in bed and arrange her stuffed animals and tell stories. That I'm fine with, because at least she's being calm, but other times she'll keep popping out of bed, saying she needs something, etc. I'm hoping it's a phase. I know that I'm not helpful with any solutions, but just wanted to share that I feel for you and have the same issue! Good luck on your end! I know how frustrating it is! :)
As far as the naps I would ask if he can just lay there quietly and not have to go to sleep, we did this at the preschool I worked at with a couple of the children.
Also, if he's watching TV, playing on the computer, or with any video games I'd cut those out at dinnertime, it keys little ones up. No horseplay, or tickling, either. If he is drinking juice, even 100% juice, it contains natural sugars, as do potatoes, pastas and rice when they break down and they can make them act wired, too. As will any caffeine.
Give him a rubdown with nighttime lotion after his bath, turn the lights low, darken his windows with shades, talk in soft "bedtime" voices, run a fan for white noise, do everything you can to relax him.
Get him up 1/2 hour earlier in the morning, and make sure he's getting extra running and jumping exercise before his bath to tire his body out.
Hang in there ✿
Have you started doing television before bed? I've head that wires kids and gets their minds really busy and is not conducive to bedtime. If you do TV in the evening I'd turn it off 30-60 min before bed. I second the nap thing, too. If shortening or rescheduling don't work you may have to say goodbye to naps. That stinks but it's better than this.
When taking a nap meant that my son was up later at night, I knew it was time for him to give up his nap. I want to say he was at least 3 1/2, but kids give up naps at different ages.
You might want to consider shortening his nap or skipping it all together. Keep in mind that just because he is crabby around dinner time does not mean the nap needs to stay. This is an adjustment as well.
Good luck!
This started happening when my boys turned 2.5. I bumped their bedtime back an hour and bedtime became a breeze again. He might just need to stay up a little bit later.
