My 4.5 yo outgrew her nap a year or so ago. She spends the day in
daycare so is up early in the morning (6:30 AM) She occasionaly falls
asleep during the day/afternoon and takes a short nap (15 - 20
minutes). On those days when she naps she has a heck of a time
falling asleep at night. Last night she was up until 10:30. Part of
her problem I think is that she now gets so upset about not being able
to fall asleep (Mommy, I just can't fall asleep!) that I think she is
getting herself worked up enough that she's causing bigger problems.
If she'd just relax, I think she'd have an easier time. When she's
not tired, I don't have a problem with her sitting up with her light
on and looking through her books. Problem is, she gets bored with
that after an hour or so, but is still agitated about not being able
to fall asleep so it keeps her up even later. Needless to say, I'm
kept up too (which I wouldn't mind too much except I also have a 3
month old and I'm struggling to get at least 6 hours of (very
interupted) sleep each night.)

Any suggestions on how to help her? I know if she's not tired there
isn't much I can do to make her tired, but how can I help her relax a
little so she can drift off without getting all riled up about not
being able to sleep? Hot milk? Boring TV shows?