I am having a strange and frustrating sleep problem with my 3 year old.
She goes to bed reasonably well and sleeps for about 10-12 hours every night, but is frequently grumpy and tired and complains that she didn’t get enough sleep. She does have dark circles and yawns a lot, and her irritable and distracted behaviour very much suggests that she didn’t get enough sleep, but the problem is - we have tried and tried and tried but cannot get her to sleep a minute more than she already does.
Over the past months we’ve experimented with naps, with bedtimes, and with morning wake-up times. She really will not sleep for a nap (and the rare time that she does happen to sleep during the day, it takes her that much longer to fall asleep at night). When we try to move her bedtime earlier, she just lays awake that much longer, and nothing in the world can convince her to stay in bed later than 6 or so in the morning.
We’ve thought maybe she isn’t sleeping soundly, but she sure seems to and I don’t know how to tell otherwise. We’ve had her at the doctor and confirmed there’s no issue medically, so we’re at a loss. She truly does seem to need more sleep but I just don’t know how to give it to her.
I know she’s only a little, but it might help to get her into a proper medical sleep-study to see if she is suffering from episodes of sleep apnoea during the night. Twelve hours sleep should be (mostly) enough for a 3 yr old, but if that sleep is compromised it might explain her tiredness during the day.
Yeah my first thought is that her sleep is interrupted somehow, so that it isn’t restful. A quick google reveals there is such a thing as pediatric sleep apnea.
Setting that aside for the moment, have you tried the traditional snooze inducers, like warm milk or chamomile tea?
Hey thanks, guys! I had thought maybe an iron issue but the doctor ruled that out so I was stumped. That’s a great idea.
She does have some warm milk before bed and usually does fall asleep easily (as long as we don’t try to make her sleep before 7:30) and seems to be sleeping very soundly when we check in on her.
I popped in to say much the same thing. It does happen. Discuss with the pediatrician. Is there any way that you might be able to make an audio recording of her sleeping to use as data in that discussion? (I don’t know how audible it is with young kids… obviously if they’re snoring, but the cessations might not be that loud).
My sister’s friend gives her very young daughter melatonin before bed. I don’t necessarily believe that it’s a good thing, but it works and her doctor hasn’t said no.