Dreading bedtime

What’s your daily schedule? Does he still nap? If it’s consistently taking that long it may be he’s not tired enough.

If he naps I'd definitely cut those out, but most kids start testing limits at around that age and they really start with bedtime. A lot of getting out of bed, wantung drinks, hugs, book, songs, other things. Unfortunately it's something they need to just out grown and you have to remain consistent on with telling them to lay down. They will do it for years most likely. My husband still hasn't learned that's just how kids are lol he gets so mad and thinks it's just ours lol I show him posts like these 😅

@GMF he wakes up around 6.30 and goes to bed between 7.30-8. He is tired but keeps telling he doesn’t want to go to bed. And it can go on till 8.30 and almost 9ish. I can’t keep doing it or have his bedtime any later, my own bedtime is 9.-9.30. As for naps, sometimes he does sometimes he doesn’t. I tried to ditch the nap but he gets exhausted by the end of the day and very cranky. He sleeps really well during his nap time. Usually 1.5-2 hours.

@Samantha I tried to ditch naps, I don’t think he’s ready cause he gets absolutely exhausted before bedtime. My husband gets pretty mad too but I don’t blame him, it’s mentally draining to have evenings like that. To me it feels like not all kids are like that, anyone I ask they don’t have that issue 🥲

I completely understand! My husband is the same way and I definitely understand the second part too lol both my sons did that at that age. They still fight bedtime but not as bad as they used to. We have some bad nights but all we have to do now is threaten grounding if we know they are just trying to stay up on purpose. I hate doing it but it's better than a spanking or yelling and gets them to listen usually. Ditching naps is really hard, have you tried waking him early from his naps? I know it really sucks to do that but sometimes it helps. That's how I stopped weaned my youngest from them, I mainly had to wake him to pick his brother up from school lol but it worked

@Samantha thank you! I’ll try again to ditch his nap. The last time I tried to, he literally fell asleep on me while I was walking. That’s how I knew he was not ready yet.

@Tatyanna it’s so exhausting. I’m on the verge of tears when this happens. It’s like no one is enjoying it, everyone is suffering and is upset, why don’t we just go to bed peacefully!!! 😫

It's a hard age and doesn't get easier 😅I hope it works out! 🤞

@Samantha most of my friends have teenage kids now and almost everyone says it gets much better around 4.5-5 and I have hope 🤞🏻🫠

My oldest has pretty bad ADHD so he NEVER sleeps lol my youngest sleeps pretty good but does get up if his brother is and he's awake. They're 8 and almost 6. So it does lol sometimes 😂

Oof adhd is a different ball game 😩 I’m hoping that’s not our case lol What made you suspect he has adhd and at what age?

We went through something similar with my oldest daughter. We ended up dropping her nap at 2.5 and moving bedtime up a little earlier for a bit. She is almost 4 now and she goes to bed around 715 and gets up at 630am. There were a couple of weeks of transition and figuring that she needed to be in bed a little earlier. But, then she settled back into a 7:00ish bedtime. I would definitely shorten the nap or eliminate it altogether and adjust bedtime instead.

@Kim thanks Kim. I really hope it’s a nap issue and that adjustment will help. Otherwise I’m about to lose my mind with this daily struggle. It’s really draining me out.

Honestly when I was pregnant with him 😂 he moved nonstop haha I looked like I had an alien inside of me lol he was diagnosed in kindergarten, he would take 2 hours to color a picture in school because he would just stare off at things

I would try a couple days of no nap and putting him to bed at 7pm and see if that helps!

Yeah you need to accept the later bedtime or cut the nap. Average sleep totals for 3-5 year olds are 10-13 hours. My 3 year old wakes around 6:45, naps 1-3 and bedtime is 9. With no nap it’s 7-7:30 bedtime.

@GMF sounds like my son falls into that measurement, his sleep total is around 10 hours when he skips his nap and with the nap it’s 12 hours. He always had early bedtime though, 6pm then 6.30, 7 and now 7.30 pm. I might try to ditch his nap again and see if it helps.

@Brittany will try that! thank you 🙂

The difference in sleep totals may also be throwing him off. My son almost always does 11.5 hours either or without nap. Often a drop in sleep needs can come on suddenly so it may be that’s what’s happened for him.

@GMF nap is something that I can control on weekends only though since he goes to daycare. And there they tell me it’s a hit or miss. Some days he won’t sleep even a minute and some he sleeps. And they don’t make them sleep, they just have to have quiet time.

Try magnesium oil on his little feet it’ll be a dream and it’ll help wind him down it’s way better then melatonin and natural it works amazing and has been incredibly helpful for me and my time weening my son who’s almost 2 who is now sleeping through the night and getting 7/8 hours of sleep vs every 2/3hrs wakes

In addition to the later bedtime/dropping nap you could try adding a nice story to your bedtime routine.

@Kayla thanks for recommendation! I’ve been using magnesium on his feet for a while and it’s been a hit or miss. He does sleep through the night, the problem is bedtime and him fighting bedtime.

@Sophie thanks! We’ve been doing songs since he was born and story time we usually have in the morning but I’ll try to add story time before bed too.

Totally understand best advice is to treasure the journey as much as you can, I slept an ebf my son in his playpen up until I started weening him off he’s definitely getting more into the routine and knows when it’s time to lay down all I have to say is grab your blanky and when he’s tired he’s not fighting, boys push it till that can’t wait any longer, try letting daddy play and tire him out with some good ole rough housing, mine found throwing lo on the bed they had a hoot and he had to get up from each throw which took his energy. It’ll bring a fun aspect before bedtime something he can look forward to, and hey if he’s big boy try doing a bedtime treasure hunt hide the tooth brush make a play treasure map x marking the bed it’s interactive can wind him down just food for thought and at the end a good sleepy time tea could be great for both of you!

@Kayla those are nice tips, thanks Kayla 😊 I really keep telling myself like a mantra that it won’t last forever and that I need to treasure it but it’s really hard in the moment when all I want him to do is go to sleep so we all can rest. I’ll try to offer him some chamomile tea, as of now he has warm milk before bed (to help him unwind). We do physical activity in the evening to wear him out, he has zoomies with our dog and literally runs out of breath. It just feels like he has this FOMO aka fear of missing out, like he’s so scared if he goes to bed he’ll miss some fun. And he fights his bedtime. And I keep telling him no one is gonna have fun here without you, we all will just go to bed now.

No problem just know your not alone I definitely was struggling mind you until I found out I was pregnant and my lo was 1.5 I was for a good year rocking my son and sleeping/ebf my son in his play pen, I’m 5’6 cramping myself in there with him because of fear falling asleep which you can imagine he’d knock my out trying to wait on him to be done and then the extra task of getting out without waking him. I pray he lets go of the missing out of fun but to let him know theirs more fun to wake up to in the morning, i just got this idea but maybe try a good jig saw puzzle you hang on your fridge yk like with a magnet and change it every week or day depending on what you find that could easily be a good craft you could do I’m a crafty momma so feel free to try something out don’t be afraid to create unless you got the penny’s to spend. They grow fast and before we know it they can’t even fit the crib and then you think it was just yesterday he could fit in my arms! 🫶🏽 sending love light!