Bed time Problems... HELP!!?

Question

My parents have custody of my 3 year old neice. She goes to bed sometimes by herself but on my days off from work she doesn't want to go to bed until like 3 or 4 in the morning. I work until 1 in the morning so i stay up alot during the night. She then carries over wanting to stay up during the week when I am at work. My mother is disabled and my father works very early in the day. Is there anything to get her to keep a 10pm schedual. She sleeps for a good 8-9 hours when she finally sleeps but when she doesn't want to go to sleep it gets very aggrivating. Please help me!!! What can i do about this??

We battle with getting her to bed. She will go in there but about 10 minutes later she comes out wanting to watch tv or running around. We start putting her to bed at 9:30 on my days off and sometimes it isn't until 3 or 4 until she finally gives up... That is after i give up and put on the wiggles and jo jo's circus(educational shows) to get her to sit down and behave with my parents are sleeping.

the 7:30-8pm bedtime just is too early for her when she is in bed by that time she is up at 4 or 5 in the morning. When i get off at 1am it is very hard to function let alone work on 3 hours of sleep. When she goes to bed at 9-10 she sleeps until about 9 or 10

i cannot stress enough i guess that the 7-8:30 time frame is out of the question. i asked for help on how to get them to bed not what time to put them to bed. If i put her to bed between 7 and 8:30 she is up by no later than 5am. Thank you all for the help i am going to close this out due to the fact that all of these options have been great yet so many have been just repetitive. I will most likely be back to ask more questions if none of these work. Thanks!

Answer 1

I have a son that will be 3 in Aug and I work until 3 am. We also put him to be a little later because of my schedule so I can some sleep in the AM. They need to be consistant. Tell her that she needs to stay in bed. turn on a soft light and some soothing music and give her some books to look at in bed. This works for my son. When she comes out of her room she needs to be taken back everytime.

Answer 2

All young children need is a consistent bedtime routine, it is establishing one that can be difficult at first but here's what to do.

the child NEEDS to go to bed at the same time everynight. A child of this age shoulld be going to bed for 7 or 7.30.
A child needs to recognize the signs that bedtime is near approaching in order to be prepared.
At around 6p.m start by telling the child that it is bedtime soon and the next hour should be 'wind down' time. get the child ready for bed.
No food after this time and minimize drinks. read stories and explain to the child what will be happening.
When you take the child to bed, make sure the room is ready, curtains are closed, black out the room if it is light and get a nightlight. NO t.v before bed.
The child may be reluctant to begin with so if you have to keep putting the child back into bed, be firm and stay in control.
If the child gets upset you need to deal with it quickly, put her straight back into bed and make it brief, say goodnight and walk out of the room.
You may have to stay outside of the room while you monitor the situation and if it takes a few hours , it has to be done.
If you give in to the child the only message you are giving them is that they control the situation and can do as they please.
Be firm and even if the child takes a few hours to go to sleep, the child should be woken no later than 8 a.m the following morning.
Continue with this routine for AS LONG AS IT TAKES!
Usually if you stick to this routine , from 4 days you will see a considerable improvement and by a week or so this routine will be well developed and the child will be used to it.
This takes alot of hard work and patience but in just a week your lives will be transformed.
Trust me!! I have 3 young children aged 6, 4 and 2 and each of them are all in bed at 7.30 and go to sleep without any problems.
I had to go through the same thing with each of my children when they were 1 year old and its hard work but the results are totally worth it!
ROUTINE ROUTINE ROUTINE!!! thats what children understand and respond to.
Young children should be having between 10 and 12 hours sleep at night, this maintains their healthy development ( brain development) and ensures that you have a well rested child with good concentration.
Please try this and persevere.

good luck!

Answer 3

at 3 years old she should be going to bed at 7.30 - 8pm!!
you will have to put her in a routine, keep her active during the day with no naps, an hour before bedtime give her a warm bath then read her a book to chill her out then take her to bed and maybe another book. explain its bedtime and if she keeps getting up then keep taking her back. i know this will be hard on your parents but being consistant for 2 weeks is surely less tiring than forever of what you're doing now.
if she's active and kept awake during the day she should be ready for bed by 8pm anyway.

i don't agree with nicole, never put achohol in your babies bottles, this is just dangerous!

Answer 4

I have a 3 year old and I work nights so I know what you mean. Does she take a nap during the day? If she does, maybe try cutting out the nap. If that's not the case, try to make sure she is active during the day. Let her run, hop, skip, jump, or even just help out around the house. Pretty much, try to wear her out. This has helped me tremendously with my daughter. Another thing I've found is that sometimes, she just wants to cuddle, basically, unwind from the day.

Answer 5

Put her to bed at the same time every night. When she is a little older, you may be able to allow her a week-night and week-end schedule, but for now, she'll need consistency no matter what day it is.

Answer 6

you gotta stick to teh routine, consistency, on the nights u are there, she should still go to bed at an appropriate time, like the same time every night, maybe u could lay next to her and read to her or talk to her so she still gets some quality time with you on your nights off, but i cant stress enough the importance of keeping the routine and consistency to her sleep time

and for gods sake PLEASE DO NOT GIVE HER ALCOHOL NEVER!!!!!!!

Answer 7

Bath time .. johnson and johnsons bedtime bath .. i want to say lavender is the key ingredient .. i use it when i cant get to sleep and im 20. hahahha. or you can try some chamomile tea, there's a bedtime brand for that too. my son loves it .. and i love that it calms him down enough to get him to lay down.

Answer 8

This might sound bad, but putting a SMALL amount of brandy or something similar in her bottle (or whatever she uses) helps. Most parents do this for teething problems or for the same problem you have. Also, make sure that during the day she is very active, that way, when bed time looms, she'll have used a lot of energy during the day and then be tired.