Question:

I have a five-year-old who always wakes up at the same time as when her two older siblings are getting ready to go to school.

She sleeps in a different room and I’ve done everything to block out the noise and light including trying to get her to go back to sleep but nothing seems to work. As a result, she sometimes falls asleep in her kindergarten which runs from noon till about 4.30pm.

She sleeps at about 8.30pm every night. If she goes to bed anytime earlier, she’ll end up waking up at night. I am trying to wean her off afternoon nap. What can I do to rectify this problem?

girl sleeping

Answer:

The routine of sleeping early and waking up early has probably been established in your child. You also mentioned that she takes daytime naps. It seems that your child is getting plenty of sleep. Is it possible to engage her in some activities other than sleeping during the day? Or maybe you might want to put her to sleep just a little later around 9pm to 9.30pm and see if that can help her to get up later.

The best time to change that routine would be during the weekends or school holidays where the siblings do not need to get up that early.

Anytime when your child wakes up at an inappropriate time, do not have toys where she has easy access and do not to give attention to her but pretend to continue sleeping. Your child will get bored eventually and the time it takes for her to go back to sleeping will get shorter and shorter.

It is a concern if your child is sleeping in class as she will be missing out on her lessons. You need to try out some of these strategies immediately.

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