Search:     Advanced search
Browse by category:
You are here: Parenting Resources Home / Parenting / Getting Your Three Year Old To Sleep


Getting Your Three Year Old To Sleep
Print
Email to friend
Views: 468
Getting Your Three-Year-Old to Bed
Q-tip

You might want to establish a rule that your preschooler can't get out of bed except to go to the bathroom. But make sure that your child has a way to communicate with you if she needs a cup of water, and so on. Use an intercom or baby monitor. Or leave the door slightly ajar.

Your three-year-old needs less sleep than she did just a year (or even just six months) ago. This may wreak havoc with bedtime if you don't adjust accordingly. So if your child has difficulty dropping off to sleep, ask yourself: Does your child really need so much sleep or do you just need some time to yourself at night? If your child doesn't need as much sleep as you're trying to force on her, you might have more success if you either shorten (or even eliminate) her afternoon nap or move her bedtime back a half hour or so. After all, if your three-year-old isn't tired, you can't reasonably expect her to want to go to bed.

As with younger children, you will do best to establish a regular, soothing bedtime routine. Make it as pleasant as possible for both of you. Before starting the routine, alert your child that bedtime is approaching. You'll start off on the wrong foot if you try to pull her away from whatever she's doing because, "It's time for bed."

Make a bargain with your child instead: "Just one more puzzle now, and then it's time for bed." Then read or tell a bedtime story. You'll probably have more success in preserving a soothing atmosphere if you hold storytime in your child's bedroom rather than in another room. After storytime, your child might enjoy listening to music as she drifts off to sleep.

Childproofing

If you or your child is uncomfortable with the drop from a big bed to the floor, invest in a removable safety rail—or just put the mattress directly on the floor. When you're both more comfortable that she won't fall out, then put the safety rail away (though not necessarily far away, because you or she might want it back at some point).

Q-tip

Don't punish your child by sending her to her bedroom or by sending her—or even threatening to send her—to bed early. This will ruin all your efforts to make your preschooler's bed and bedroom and bed a soothing and pleasant place for her to be.

In leaving your three-year-old's bedroom, promise to return to make sure she doesn't need anything else in 10, 15, or 20 minutes—or as soon as you've finished up what you're doing. (Your child may be more willing to let you go if you let her know that you have dishes to wash or a shower to take or some other business that demands your attention.) Then follow up on your promise—or expect your child to come looking for you.

If you haven't yet done so, try to make your three-year-old's bed and bedroom as appealing as possible. If you make the bedroom a place where your child enjoys spending time, she will put up much less resistance when she has to go there. So put some effort into making the bedroom her special, private place and honor that privacy. One way to do this is to let your child help decorate. When your child switches from a crib to a big bed, for instance, let her help redecorate the room.

Your preschooler can do a lot to transform her room into her own special space:
  • She can help pick out sheets that she likes.
  • She can help rearrange the furniture to her liking.
  • She can help pick out pictures, posters, and other ways to decorate the walls around her bed.
  • If you put shelves next to your preschooler's bed, she can stock them with her favorite books, stuffed animals, toys, and a portable cassette player with plenty of tapes.
  • To facilitate storytime (and "reading" by herself), install a reading light above your child's bed.
All of these will make your child's room a place she wants to be. And isn't that half the battle in getting her to go to bed
Others in this Category
document Noggin: brings preschool subjects and familiar activities into the context of engaging stories and characters
document BabyZone: parenting content and tools.
document There Are No Bad Children - Tips On Discipline
document Your Child And Sleep: Helping Your Child To get Enough Sleep
document Children who Steal: Children steal for a variety of reasons. Probably as many as one in four children have deliberately stolen something at some time. So how do you stop it?
document Comprehensive programs throughout Connecticut that have been approved by the Birth to Three System to complete eligibility evaluations, and provide services and supports for families. Refer to the checklist attached to see the developmental stages for your child's first 3 years.
document ParentCenter: a Web resource for parents of children ages 2 to 8, is dedicated to helping you find the information and support you need toddler, or child.
document A Good Parent Resource
document Communicating With Your Child's Teacher
document A Parent's Thoughts On Preschool
document Discipline That Works: The Ages and Stages Approach
document A CHILD BECOMES A BETTER READER Birth Through Pre-School
document The Difference Between Day Care and Preschool Parents...What Parents Should Know
document Violence and Television
document Who Needs Preschool? A Newsweek Article from 11/3/2007
document New Husky Eligibility Guidelines
document Getting Your Child Ready for Kindergarten
document Family Fun: Lollipop Mice for Valentine's Day
document Great Links for Information and Activities
document CDC Child Development Information
document Tips For Buying toys
document Where Does The Money Go?
document Seymour Child Care Resources
document Teddy Bear Day Care Has New Address!
document What Children Can't Do Yet
document You Child's First Report Card
document Play Is Important
document Play Date Rules for Dads
document Tips For Dads to Raise Resilient Kids
document Disciplining Other People's Kids
document Camping With Kids
document Preschool Gardening
document Music As A Teaching Tool
document Drawing as a Preliteracy Skill
document Preparing Your Child For Separation
document Reading Aloud to Your Child
document Father's Can Expand A Child's Interests
document Handling Sleepover Fears
document First Day Jitters
document Dads and Kids Watching The Stars
document Summer Science Fun in the Kitchen
document BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS
document ANSONIA SCHOOLS REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
document DADS AND MOMS DIFFER
document STARTING KINDERGARTEN TIPS
document Eating Fruits and Vegetables Important
document When Your Child Is Not In Preschool
document Teaching Kids About Child Predators
document Teaching Your Child Good Manners
document Getting Young Children to Listen
document Dealing With Children's Fears
document For Preschoolers Who Aren't in Preschool
document Holiday Stress
document DEALING WITH STRESS
document Holiday Stress and Children
document Playdate Rules for Dads
document Resources for Parents With Children with Special Needs
document Bonding With Kids...Tips for Dad
document Valentines Day...Tips To Show Your Child You Love Them
document What You Need To Know About Child Dental Health
document Building Your Child's Creativity
document Watch The Falling Spoon-why babies do this?
document Getting Ready For That First Day of School
document The Importance of Reading Aloud With Your Child
document Has Preschool Prepared Your Child for Kindergarten?
document Exploring the Outdoors and Exploring Rocks
document Cooking Toasty Apple Pies With Your Child
document SIGNS OF AUTISM
document How Much Activity Do Kids Need?
document Teaching Empathy
document Children Need Their Sleep
document Single Parenting
document Tips for 4th of July Safety
document Summer Playground Safety
document Easy, Healthy Dessert
document Pool Safety for Children
document How Do Kids Fare With Parents Who Work


RSS
Powered by KBPublisher (Knowledge base software)