OK. that's another parenting strategy out the window for my kid

We've been concerned recently that DD (3) will go to her room happily for
nap time or bedtime, and then play for easily an hour or more (the entire
length of her "Rest time"-and at times, several hours past bedtime) before
going to sleep, if she does at all. She's then very tired, cranky, and
crabby all evening if she skips her nap (she only needs about 30-45 minutes
of sleep in the afternoon now, but it makes a DRAMATIC difference if she
doesn't get it) or the next day if she keeps herself up late. She'll also
fall asleep on any car ride of over about 5 minutes, so it's obvious that
she's tired, but that she doesn't want to go to sleep.

So, we tried removing toys, books, etc from her room so she had no incentive
to stay up late and play, since they have seemed to be migrating to her room
from the playroom. Should work, right?

Her blanket and pillow were talking to each other past 10:00 last night.

I give up. Guess she's both too stubborn and too imaginative for the
textbook answer to work.

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
. ..
We've been concerned recently that DD (3) will go to her room happily for
nap time or bedtime, and then play for easily an hour or more (the entire
length of her "Rest time"-and at times, several hours past bedtime) before
going to sleep, if she does at all. She's then very tired, cranky, and
crabby all evening if she skips her nap (she only needs about 30-45
minutes of sleep in the afternoon now, but it makes a DRAMATIC difference
if she doesn't get it) or the next day if she keeps herself up late.
She'll also fall asleep on any car ride of over about 5 minutes, so it's
obvious that she's tired, but that she doesn't want to go to sleep.

So, we tried removing toys, books, etc from her room so she had no
incentive to stay up late and play, since they have seemed to be migrating
to her room from the playroom. Should work, right?

Her blanket and pillow were talking to each other past 10:00 last night.

I give up. Guess she's both too stubborn and too imaginative for the
textbook answer to work.
Tbh when #2 got to this stage then she was generally better not to have the
afternoon sleep. She was only just 2yo when she dropped the sleep.
Unfortunately it took most of a year before she really didn't need to have
had the afternoon sleep to stop her being grotty in the evening.
Both of my older ones (#3's too young to do this) can play games in an empty
room, but so can I (there's a lot of geometry you can do using the cracks on
a ceiling) so removing toys/books etc. isn't going to help them go to sleep.
#1 used to sing loudly if she was meant ot be going to sleep and didn't want
to too.
The only thing that worked with #2 was either lying down next to her and
pretending to be asleep (then she'd do the same and often fall asleep too),
playing sleeping lions in the bed, or letting her hide under the duvet, and
thn pulling it back once he was asleep. If she lay still for 5-10 minutes
then she slept easily, but she's not a lying still child.
Debbie

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
I give up. Guess she's both too stubborn and too imaginative for the
textbook answer to work.

My girls were very imaginative at that age also. They didn't have to have a
room full of toys to keep them busy. When they got to that stage, it meant
they were ready to give up their nap even though I wasn't. I stuck to a
strict quiet time in the afternoon and they could play, rest, or sometimes
they would fall asleep, but they had to be quiet and stay in their room. If
they didn't nap, then they went to bed earlier. You're lucky you made it to
3 yrs napping, two of mine gave it up around 2 yrs. The books don't really
address when kids are ready to not nap anymore, I just figured it out on my
own and put them to bed earlier.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)