I would love some advice.

DD will be 3 on March 1st. She has always been a night owl and loves to be in our bed. She will sleep in her own bed if we lay down with her. If we leave she wakes up and ends up in our bed. It doesn't bother DH and I anymore. We go with the flow.

The real problem. She is in the process of giving up naps. BUT! If she doesn't take a nap, she still won't go to bed until 10:30pm! Then, she is so overtired, she wakes up in the middle of the night, fussing and so on. Then, she wants to sleep in until 9:30am! I just don't let her. So, I wake her up around 8am (She used to always get up at 7 or 7:30am when napping) So,then I have a fussy girl in the morning.

One more thing: her 2 year molars have not come in. They have tried to pop through a few times and once broke through the skin, but they have still been bothering her. Last night she told DH that "Teeth hurt Daddy! Right here!" and put her fingers to the back of her mouth. Today she is miserable and I know it's teeth. She didn't want to go to her Playtime and she NEVER wants to miss that!

Did anyone have any trouble with molars coming in and taking this long?

Also, I would love any advice on the nap and sleep issue. I have tried waking her earlier and earlier by 15 minutes, but she is still a major GRUMP and it's just not worth it to me! HELP!

Crying girl...thanks!

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 10:44 am:

I knew this was you. As I mentioned before B had a rough time at that age when fighting naps. I gave up encouraging them when bed time became a major battle. Dh and I had to take turns laying down with her at bed time and again in the middle of the night if she woke. She slept with us for several months as a toddler after having pneumonia and once we finally got her back into her own bed we didn't allow her back into ours. Instead, we took turns laying down with her in HER bed. No lights, no talking, soft/quiet music... I had to pretend to be asleep and ignored her wanting to play or be silly. Eventually tucking her in with a large stuffed animal or one of our cats (Andy) would suffice. YEAH!! I don't remember molars being a specific issue but then again she's a difficult child and it's hard to tell! Monsters and bad dreams also disrupted sleep at this age. We told her Andy (the cat) or the life-size stuffed panther would "Scare the bad dreams away." It worked so we went with it! These issues always seemed to go more smoothly with DS. Is it a girly thing?! LOL!

By Eve on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 11:16 am:

Yeap, it's me. LOL!

I'm sorry I should have been more clear. My issue is not so much her coming into her bed. It's a non-issue for DH and I. But, WHY after NOT having a nap, does she wake in the night?? With a short nap, even at 4pm, she will sleep right on through the night with no trouble! I would think that NOT having a nap would make her MORE tired and in turn, she would sleep. Without fail, every day she has not had a nap, she wakes in the night. When she does have a nap, even a short one, no matter the time of day, she sleeps better at night. I don't get it!! LOL! Am I missing something? Is there something I am supposed to be doing?

Oh Trina, please don't mention bad dreams! I don't need her waking for anything else. LOL!

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 01:15 pm:

Yea, I know. Doesn't make sense, does it?! Truth is, when they're over tired they don't sleep well. That's why I strongly encouraged naps for as long as I could. I remember laying down on the couch with B to get her to fall asleep, even if only for 20-30 minutes. LOL! Ty slept for 3 hrs. every day, no problems, until he was 4.5! Night and day...

By Kate on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 01:22 pm:

Eve, I just saw your post about your brother on the main board. Perhaps the disruption in your household is the problem! Her routine has been interrupted by a three week houseguest. I don't know why she wakes up when she should be exhausted, but all the books do say they sleep better if they get a nap in there. Maybe she's not napping because of your brother being there. Just a thought!

By Eve on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 01:26 pm:

I wish I could blame it on my house guest. LOL! She did this before on the off days she missed a nap. Man, it just seems like she would sleep better being tired. Weird! Thanks, ladies. I guess I'll try the lay on the couch thing, Trina! Anything to make her sleep better at night. Uggh. Who needs a newborn when you have a 2 year old. LOL!

By Marg on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 01:28 pm:

Eve,

I am having a similar, in away, problem as you. DD turned 3 in July, takes no naps (). She goes to bed anywhere between 7:30-8:30pm and gets up about 5:30am. The problem lies between those hours. She gets up at least twice, for juice, potty, she even raids the refrigerator without waking me up, talk about scary. I have tried placing three different types of gates at her door (she's like houdini (SP?). I am the one exhausted and grumpy, plus I have been having migraine headaches (they can't find a cause, I think I can LOL). I never had this problems with older dds and I am having a terrible time adjusting (just getting old). Good luck!

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 02:47 pm:

When my older dd was 2, she started giving up the naps. She would stay in her room, but would cause trouble in there. No, I wasn't amused by diapers all being ripped out of a fairly new package or her room being covered in powder.

What was really unfair, though, was when the younger dd (then an infant) would sleep through the night, then the 2yo would wake up with night terrors! It seemed they never woke up during the night, on the same night! LOL!

I don't know why she sleeps better when she has had a nap! Maybe without a nap, she is just too wound up to relax properly.

By Mommyathome on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 04:01 pm:

My DS will be 2 in Januaray, and he already wants to give up the nap thing My DD's both napped through age 3. With 3 kids age 3 and under I needed them to nap so I could have a couple hours to unwind.

I'm sure you've tried everything, but have you tried a bath with the lavender scented baby products? Other than that, I have no suggestions.