4 1/2 yr olds

they haven't napped in a year (except when sick), we have a (strict) bedtime routine we do every night, etc etc etc...
last night the girls woke up at 3:30am and 4:30am, and couldn't go back to sleep (which, of course, means that i stay awake with them, praying for them to fall back asleep). and as soon as the sun came up, they wanted to play (i made them stay in bed till i said it was time to get up). i made them take a nap, they slept a whopping 30 minutes (!!!! )... dh put them to bed tonight at 7:30 (half hour earlier than usual), and they were STILL AWAKE at 9pm, and now ivana is still awake at 9:20. SERIOUSLY???????? what the he** is happening??? they had purple bags under their eyes all day, and couldn't see straight, so i KNOW they're exhausted.
i'm afraid they're gonna wake up in the night again tonight, and are gonna become so overtired and sleep-deprived that they'll never go back to a night's sleep!
what do i do?
i've lost my mind, cuz I'M sleep-deprived.

 

Do they like stickers? If so, start a sleep chart. Put it in their room, or somewhere visible, and every night they stay in their bed without waking you, they get a sticker. At the end of the week they get a special prize. Let them know in advance what the prizes will be. If one stays in bed and the other doesn't, then that one gets the sticker, not both. It worked like a charm for my girls. I took them to the store, let them pick out a couple of different type of stickers, then let them put it on their own chart. It made a huge difference in our house.

 

thank you! i thought about doing a sticker chart... i'll be making one today! we have a ton of stickers, but i like the idea of going to the store and letting them pick out their own stickers, thanks

 

Dannielle-I am going to just hope yesterday was a just a fluke thing with waking up so early. As for bedtime and it being 9;30 and still awake...as you know Ryder is the same way-we start bedtime at 7:45 and they are usually asleep by 8:30 or so. We've started giving Ryder melatonin while he's in the bathtub and this has helped so much!! Before he would still be up hanging out at 11!! this doesnt work because I am ready for bed by 9;30! LOL!!!
Good luck!!

 

lesley - i'm going to put melatonin on my shopping list! (pete and i could use it, too! ) i'll keep you posted on her sleep progress

 

Just make sure for Ivana you get the kind that disolve and taste good or she wont take them! She's on to you after the failed 'sneak attack' last time! :laughing:

 

Will you please tell me more about the melatonin? My two have been miserable sleepers from the start and sometimes I feel like walking right of the house into the night never to return...until the morning. I am so freaking tired from almost 4 years of this. My kids have literally never napped for me during the day. They do it like clockwork at daycare, no problem. If I am off work with them during the week and on the weekends I don't even try anymore. I am ok with that now, but the not going to sleep until 10, 11 or later during the week is seriously driving me crazy.

 

How much physical & intellectual activity do they get each day? Ours get up about 7am, take no nap, and are out like a light at 8pm. But we are BUSY all day. Ive started not picking up the house or doing any chores until after 8pm so that we can just play, and go on walks, and to the park, and arts/crafts etc etc etc. When they dont get as much activity or I do have them take a nap they dont go to bed until much later.
We also dont allow much sugar, processed food, or drinks other than water...

 

This was suggested to us by our pedi when I mentioned that my son would stay up until all hours, not sleeping. We bought some from Akins Health Food store that are sublyngual and orange flavored. He just chews them up. He gets sleepy with in an hour of taking it. He's been on it a while now and we've just had to double his dose. I can totally tell a difference in the nights we've forgotten to give them to him!! So I know they work.
The good thing is that it just helps him get sleepy naturally and he's not out of it or anything and he wakes up happy and not drowsey.