A Night Off

I've mentioned the bedtime struggles a time or two. Yesterday Relia missed her nap and basically fell asleep on her own before I was even home from work. It was my turn to put her down so it was like a night off! (Funniest bit for me, Relia wandered out of her room at midnight and handed me her jacket so I could hang it up downstairs. This was very important to her.)
Today I tried (scout's honor!) to transfer Relia from car to bed for a nap. She'd been asleep for about 15min and I guess that was long enough. Again, there was no afternoon nap. My turn again to put her down. She didn't make it through one book, again conked out on her own.

We're going to ask the pediatrician about using melatonin to help her get to bed. It's ok for adults for long term use in helping to fall asleep. But it's not very well studied for children as far as I can tell. I'm a bit torn on using help but this seems to be longterm enough for us to start worrying about. Between one and two hours per night along with at least one pretty good fight is too much.
Bedtime advice from the internet has been less than useful. 'Try a regular routine at bedtime'. She's been on a regular routine for more than two years. We've been doing the stuff and it's not working. Yes, she'll grow out of it. As soon as she can read chapter books on her own, this problem will solve itself. But until then? Ugh.

Comments

Anonymous said…
what if you drop her nap? Seems bedtime goes better?

Does she just put up a fight and keep getting out of bed and leaving her room?
2:40 PM
Anonymous said…
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/blogs/93455369.html
3:06 PM
Cellomama said…
*sigh* I feel your pain so very clearly. We went through the same thing with Kate. She was 2 1/2. It started right when Elizabeth was born and lasted (I hate to say it) for months.

We fully dropped the nap and did a SUPER early bedtime. That seemed to help sometimes. I also got into a very bad habit of snuggling with her in bed until she fell asleep, which I am still trying to fully break.

Mostly, I think it was just a reaction to the new baby. If it makes you feel any better, those days are already forgotten. But man, they were a beast a the time.

Hugs and luck to you.
1:22 PM
Cellomama said…
We also got so that she'd fall asleep but get up in the middle of the night. Desperate for sleep, we created a little bed on the floor next to ours, and she knew she could come in there as long as she didn't wake us up. She slept there half the night until we put a stop to it a year later. But it saved us that year.
1:24 PM
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