Help DH stop being ring master to 3 yr old DD bedtime circus routine

[scribegirl]

Good advice. I did that this weekend, getting her to nap at 1-2 pm but today she didn't fall asleep til past 2 pm! And when I tried to wake her at 3 pm it did not go well.

So I guess we're in for a late night.... although she often is so zonked by preschool that she will go down without much of a fuss by 8 pm anyway.

But yes, I like the idea of keeping a close eye on her cues and take the EW as an indicator of OT. Will post again if I get stumped or if DH/DD have a regression in their nighttime routine (which was flawless last night BTW after only 1 'incident"!)

[scribegirl]

So..... wanted to report the "morning night light on a timer" was a great hit! She really responded well to the idea and this morning, got up at 6 am when DS was howling. But I reminded her to check if the light was on and it wasn't so she went back to bed.

Not sure if she slept at all but she was silent in her room and bolted out the second it went on, very proud of herself. I set it for 7 am but now will move it to 7:15 am.

Tonight is DH's night to put her down so knock on wood the winning streak can continue and he will be back on track with a nice routine. Must say, he was pretty shocked that she was so responsive.... I think it renewed his confidence quite a bit!

[scribegirl]

Wondering if regression is normal as last night was a NIGHTMARE!! She napped way too late (not sure why) but ended up going down around 2:30-3:30 pm. I thought that might have bought her some extra time before bedtime but in hindsight, she still needed to be in bed and asleep by 8 pm.

DH said she wasn't buying the timer and she got down by 8:30 PM. Then she had about a million NW. So I will have to try for an extra early nap today and get her extra extra early from preschool.

Incidentally, I have read somewhere about having a set bedtime at this age, no matter how much time has passed from nap. Is this recommended? I could see it working for DD, especially since she sometimes naps late due to OT and can only handle a shorter A time before bed.

[scribegirl]

Yes, you're probably right. She could've done no nap and early bedtime.... but it was ME who was being stubborn! I was taking her to a class and wanted her to be rested.... although after a late nap and being woken OT, she had a few meltdowns at class anyway.

Will try to get her back on track today. I think I will try to keep the set bedtime around 8-ish no matter what time nap is. She seems to be ok with shorter PM A time, especially after a long and stimulating AM.

So I guess we just need to remind, remind, remind again during dinner about the night routine and make sure to get her down in good time. So challenging! I'm not sure why they call it "terrible twos" when the threes seem to be much more to handle!