Kids and sleeping advice please?

[Munch]

I have 3 kids, 14, 9 (nearly 10) and 2.

The problem I have is.. the 2 year old is not tired at lunch time but is at 3-4pm (not great time for sleep) but when it comes to tea time she is not hungry cos she is tired and at bed time she doest want to go to bed |(maybe cos she is hungry)

Didnt have this problem before so not sure whats best?

It does my head in!! she eats well most of the time but sometimes its just so frustrating..

She is such a good girl but bedtimes are becoming increasingly difficult

[FionaH]

PIA but how about letting her nap at 3 and putting her to bed later? Messes up the grown up time in the evenings though....................

[weekendwellies]

I am not sure what your normal routine goes like, but here is what I used to do with mine when they were little.

Out of bed around 7-7.30
Breakfast, wash, teeth brushed, etc. and out of the house by 8.30.
Walk to playgroup for 9am. til 11.30. Walk home for lunch. Kids watched a bit of tv or played while I made lunch.
TV off and eat lunch 12-12.30. Quick tidy up, change clothes if necessary.
1-3 Out for a walk, play in park, collect 'nature' stuff for art work later, or just some shopping, trip to library, swimming etc .
Back home for well deserved nap. Tea at around 4-4.30.
After tea, play games, read, colour pictures, make something with afternoon's collections.
Supper, bath, into pjs, story time and bed by 8pm

They were so busy during the day they were happy to go to bed. I got my evening to watch tv, have a bath, read or whatever. Happy days.

[Creemteez]

When I looked after my granddaughter at around the same age I always made sure we had a VERY active morning. Park, walking Beau, feeding the ducks, shopping etc. Come lunchtime she was always ready to eat. Kept snacks to a minimum too. Although she wasn't a child that needed a nap during the day, if we went out in the car it would pretty much guarrentee her nodding off.
As to nighttime and being hungry - warm milk and a biscuit should be enough to make them feel content.
The main thing is to try and remain calm yourself as they pick up on stress like no-bodies business. Stepson and DIL have cracked bedtime but Lowen is still very picky about eating, and I think it's because she sences how stressed they get if she won't eat.

[jackie j]

I was lucky with my daughter cos she used to sleep for england.
Wake 7 - 8am
sleep 11am - 3pm ( had to wake her to fetch the boys from school )
sleep 7pm - 7am ish later if we let her.

Can you let her have a nap mid morning is it posible or not. would she, I used to put my daughter to bed and she used to play till she fell asleep.

Can you give her tea early so you can get her to bed early if she is tired.

[Nicos]

I'd go with a quick cat nap(??15-20mins??) when she's tired and a warm snuggly bath at bedtime.

You'll get it sorted soon

[Two_Sheds]

That advice to get her physically active during the day is good. My sister has 4, and no car.
Every day she walks with them to playgroup or school (20 mins each way) then she goes into town to shop (a further 20 mins each way). The kids' fitness level is terrific, they eat well (mostly, the odd fad) and sleep when they're meant to.
Her eldest was cycling 5 miles when she was nine, then doing an hour's karate on top!

[SarzWix]

At 2 years old, mine all still napped in the afternoon - I got them up earlier in the morning so that they were tired after lunch. A walk out with the pram usually did the trick - get them to walk TO the park or wherever, and then stick 'em in the pushchair for the way back and they always went off to sleep