3yr old who loves to sleep!

[tigwig]

Hi, my 3 year old daughter is such a good sleeper compared to everyone elses children I speak to I just wondered if it is normal! If I am not working in the morning, she goes to bed at 8pm and usually doesn't get up until 9.30-10.00am which is fantastic for us but is this right? I work 2 days per week and when she has to get up then at 7.00am she is really hard to wake up and come late afternoon she is really cranky and tired and will climb into bed herself anytime from 6.00pm and insist she wants to go to bed! Even when I am not at work, she says she wants a rest and will fall asleep in her own bed from 6.30 pm if you let her. I do sometimes make her have a sleep through the day but generally she doesn't want to and who am I to argue if she would prefer to lie in in the morning?! What do you think? Is this normal or am I extremely lucky?!

[FUZZYBEE]

Hello tigwig, I think as long as you are happy with every other aspect of her general health and well being then there is nothing to worry about. I have two daughters 6 and 4. The 6 yr old is fine about going to bed usually wakes in the night for a wee and gets up at 7, the 4 yr old however fights it all the way, she thinks she is missing out on something by going to bed. Sometimes she is up and me and hubby are yawning and desperate to get some zzzzz's so we end up putting her in with us, then to top it off she is up at about 6.30 !! Our problem is like you the little one still likes a nap in the afternoon and I feel the same as you why let her get all cranky and upset if she want's to sleep let her.
She may just have a lot going on in that little head of hers and needs sleep to gather herself for the next busy day. Sometimes dehydration makes little ones sleepy which is not so good, (not pointing finger at you) but just check she's got enough fluids. Just sounds like she's very content with going to bed and being in her own company too, lucky you.
x

[tigwig]

thanks for your advice, she doesn't always drink lots of fluids so this could be a factor but how much are children supposed to drink? She had about a pint of milk on a morning and evening and probably drinks around 1 large cup of juice throughout the day sometimes less sometimes more.

[FUZZYBEE]

I don't think there is hard and fast rules but I just know dehydration does funny things to people. I work in a hospital and one of our doc's says that if you ever get to the point where you are thirsty and you really have to gulp a drink down, then you're too late you are already dehydrated.
Good on you for the milk side of things though, I give my girls a large beaker of warm milk on waking and going to bed. Then throughout the day i would say they have a litre of water/very weak juice, that's inclusive of packed lunches and water they have at school/nursery. Not all children are the same though and please don't think I am preaching to you, I am just a big believer in being hydrated not just kiddies but adults as well. I always used to moan at my mum for not drinking enough. How is her skin is it nice and soft, has she a dry flaky scalp? these are good indicators also how much does she wee? If a child is de-hydrated they will not wee very often because the body absorbs every little bit of fluid rather than wee it out.
x

[pollyspeed]

you are very lucky!!! i have 2 daughters one that slept for about an hour every fortnight and the other who was just like your daughter.sleep is good for oyung children (and their parents!!) but i do agree with the previous reply about making sure she has plenty to drink,always make sure that there is a fresh drink around for her to get as and when she pleases....and dont worry,just enjoy the peace and quiet while youve got it and heres a tip for you,if you have any more children they probably wont be as good at sleeping as the one youve already got!!!!

[leighkaty]

hi tigwig, how long has this been going on, if its been going on ever since you can remember then its probably just the way she is but if its somethign thats only just started id take her to the docs especially if theres other symptoms with it like lack of motivation or paleness of the skin etc

[tigwig]

thanks for your answers, fuzzybee she doesn't drink anywhere near a litre of juice through the day but she does lots of wees all the time. If she drinks a cup of juice quite fast, she can need a wee literally every 5 mins and she has been like that ever since she was potty trained at 2 years. Its like she can't hold onto wee and as soon as she has a drink she has to go. She is absoulutely fine in every other way her skin is fine too.
leighkaty, she has always been good sleeper like this and slept through the night from 5 weeks old I haven't really thought anything about it until now and was curious to see if othere people's children were like her.

[B00]

My 2 and half yr old is exactly the same, if not worse (or is that better?)

She usually goes to bed between 7.30 and 8pm and will sleep right through untill 11am the folowing morning! Like yours, if she has to get up early on any given day she'll nag to go to bed in the afternoon from which I have a job waking her up from.

I often feel very guilty when she's still sat in her PJ's at 12pm eating her Weetabix watching CBeebies doing their Lunchtime Song routine!

[stressed out]

Not sure, but it seems to be girls that sleep better! My son is 3 1/2 and won't fall asleep before 4 or 5am and then awakens a few hours later ready to stay awake and play!!!
It's been like this for a couple of years now and i am seeking medical help as i believe it may be linked to some kind of problem, as well as his total disinterest in food and his 24/7 bouncing off the walls!!
You are very lucky, my other son is 6 months and does sleep quite wll at night but it still is too young to tell.

[leewayne]

My 3 yr old son is exactly the same,climbs into bed himself,gets up late since he was 6 months old,feel very lucky!!! even eats all his veg,loves broccoli. He's like that max wild kid off the adverts he's so good or does that mean worse to come??!!!

[lynnmom29388]

Yeah.. it's okay for kids to sleep alot at this age. My daughter will be 3 in sep. and she goes to sleep @9:30-10:30 so don't worry she just loves to sleep.so yeah it's normal. I also have a 10 month old who loves to sleep also. She goes to bed @9:30-11:00a.m so yeah they need there sleep. I once read that up until like age 4 they need like 12 hours of sleep. So just enjoy the free time to yourself while you can.:)