Dear mothers,
My heart goes out to those of you, losing your precious,
well earned sleeping hours just because baby decides to play! This is a problem of
scheduling and as such, you can solve it, although the process must be a gradually phased
one.
NIGHT/DAY CONFUSION
Some children do go through night/day confusion, where they
are alert at night and sleepy through the day. Your child will not be able to wake up by 7
am with you because she's had only three or four hours of sleep. A child at this age
requires at least ten hours of sleep at night. She makes up her deficit by sleeping
through most of the morning.
PHASED WAKING/SLEEPING PATTERNS
I suggest you let her sleep an hour less every week. The
routine could go as follows:-
Week 1
Wake her everyday at 9 am, make sure she gets an afternoon
nap around 3 pm (even if it's half an hour). If she resists the nap, make sure she gets an
hour of restful activity, doing puzzles, drawing, playing with clay, looking through
picture books with you, watching traffic go by, whatever. Just as long as she rests that
active metabolism of hers! Make sure she has a fixed play time for an hour every evening
where she gets a chance to run, jump, throw, climb and push. Try to put her to bed an hour
earlier every night.
eg. Make sure she's in bed by 2 am (if 3 am is her
"regular" time!)
Again I can't stress enough the importance of a nightly
bedtime routine - a warm bath maybe, followed by 2-3 stories, a prayer, then lights out
and a lullaby or some soothing music. Whatever you do, make sure you do the very same
thing, in the very same sequence every single night of your life. Children thrive on
routine.
Week 2 - waking time 8 am, nap time 3 pm, bedtime 1 am
Week 3 - waking time 7 am, nap time 3 pm, bedtime 12 midnight
Week 4 - waking time 7 am, nap time 3 pm, bedtime 11 pm
Week 5 - waking time 7 am, nap time 3 pm, bedtime 10 pm
Week 6 - waking time 7 am, nap time 3 pm, bedtime 9 pm
This, i think is what you'd like to achieve. at this stage,
if she skips her afternoon nap, you shouldn't worry. By three years, children sometimes
decide enough is enough. As long as she's getting her ten nightly hours of blissful sleep,
I'd be happy, if I were you!
All the best, if this works, do write in and tell us, so we
can share your experience with other moms here!
Shabina
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