3 Year Old Night Owl!

Dear J. F,

I totally understand! My son has this tendency to be up and about in the middle of the night. I don't know why he does it but we are nearly successful with breaking it. And no it is not a phase.. if you don't nip it now you will be dealing with this all the time and the older he gets the more stuff outside will interest him and you won't be able to keep tabs on him. First thing we tried was taking his toys away whenever he left his room. also, no drinks before 6 pm. not even water. second, if that doesn't work try taking things out of his room when he's in there. The whole stacking things agianst his brothers bed may be a security feature... He may not feel comfortable being in the same room as his brother. How well do they get along on a normal basis... if there's a lot of arguing taht you feel normal between boys... may be affecting him more thatn anything. Another thing are you sure the other one stays asleep all night? Ha may be up pestering his brother and causing his brother to be nervous and not want to sleep around the other. Try putting him in another room if you have one nearby. Good luck!

Is he still taking a nap? I have one girl and one boy and my little girl took naps until she was almost 4. Well, my boy started showing signs of not needing naps anymore at 2 1/2!!! I couldn't believe it! I always knew when the naptimes needed to go because the sign was how easily they went to bed at their 8:30 bedtime. I noticed that Brayden was starting to play and sing, and talk until about 10:30. So, I let him go without a nap one day and voila! He went right to sleep at his bedtime. Now, some days he falls asleep for a little bit on the couch or sometimes in the car when we go places, but other than that, he's outgrown his naps. I know some people have kids who take naps until they're 5 or older, but some children sleep enough hours at night that they don't need that daytime nap very long. My son sleeps for 11-12 hours every night, straight through, so he still gets enough sleep. You might want to try it and see if that's the problem with him too.

I guess what I would do is see when your three year old is getting up in the morning and when and if he's taking a nap durring the day. I know my four year old doesn't take a nap anymore and if he does he wants to stay up all night. If he's not taking naps maybe check his sugar in take a few hours before bed. Maybe try taking walks to tire him out after dinner. Just some ideas. Good luck, let me know how it turns out. Chris
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my l;ittle sister used to do stuff like that. she wuld go to bed with out too much fuss, but would stay up playing in her bed or singing or talking to herself for hours. she would also move her bed from the position against the wall to under the ceiling fan. she wasn't hurting anything so my dad just let her leave it like that. evenually as she got a little older, she stopped the moving habit