4-year-old tired all the time

[Alohamama]

My 4-year-old DD has recently begun complaining of being "tired" all the time. She lies around all day and just wants to lie in my lap. She says she's tired from getting up too early, but she gets up around 8 after sleeping for 12 hours. She has no symptoms of being sick, but is whiny and hard to get along with.

My doc suggested maybe anemia? But she has a good diet and is growing fine.

Could this be a developmental phase? A growth spurt? Anyone experienced this?

How can I get her to sleep longer? Has anyone had a 4-year-old go back to taking naps? (She hasn't napped since she was about 18 months...)

Thanks,
Tina

[weliveintheforest]

Does it make a difference if you go outside or do certain activities in the morning? My dd will act like this if we don't do enough. She really benefits from a structured morning (up, dressed, breakfast, outside or activity with no big break in between).
Even though she has a good diet, there is a possibility she is missing some nutrient. Have you thought about keeping a diet diary? How long has it been going on?

[Meg_s]

What is the weather like over there? I know when it gets dark and cold and we don't see much sun we're pretty tired. My 3 year old acts like that. A UVB light can help with that, it doesn't take much time at all...Just a few minutes.

Another thing is gluten - when one of us has gluten we're simply exhausted. Is she eating more bready things lately?

[Cheshire]

Does she sleep well? Does she have sleep apnea?

[ledzepplon]

Did your doctor run any blood tests to see if there was anything abnormal there? I know I'm a little on the hyper side when it comes to medical things with my kids, but depending on how long it has been going on, I'd probably feel more comfortable having a basic blood panel to rule out something being out of whack.

Has anything in her life changed recently that might be stressing her out?

I hope she feels like her old self again very soon!

[tylerdylan]

Any signs of sleep apnea??? People with sleep apnea don't reach the deepest stages of sleep and hence don't sleep as well. They often don't feel well rested and have low energy levels.

[SquishyBuggles]

I have recently re-introduced naps to my 4.5 year old. She just seemed cranky in the afternoons even though she had dropped all naps awhile ago. She seems to be much better now that she's been taking naps again. I would maybe get her tested for anemia or mono, are her glands swollen or anything?

[proudmamanow]

I would also encourage you to get a good basic workup for her, anemia, any potential thyroid stuff (not sure if this happens in a 4 yo). Good luck, mama!

[Mama Poot]

Originally Posted by proudmamanow

I would also encourage you to get a good basic workup for her, anemia, any potential thyroid stuff (not sure if this happens in a 4 yo). Good luck, mama!

I also thought "thyroid". I know a few people who developed hypothyroidism in childhood, and ALL of them lamented about constantly telling their parents how tired they were, but the parents shrugged it off as being something else and waited too long to get help. I would take her to the doctor.

[thepeach80]

Originally Posted by tylerdylan

Any signs of sleep apnea??? People with sleep apnea don't reach the deepest stages of sleep and hence don't sleep as well. They often don't feel well rested and have low energy levels.

This is what I was going to say. Take a look in her mouth and look at her tonsils (though adenoids can cause this problem too). Evan just had his tonsils out in August and his energy went way up! He would take 3+ hr naps during the day till his surgery and now he still naps, but usually jsut a short one in the car on the way to get AJ from school. He had severe sleep apnea and while it would seem he was getting enough sleep, he would wake repeatedly from the apnea and rousings and was getting no quality sleep at all. It also helped him gain weight, yay!

[yentroc]

When my dd was 2.5, we went through this and I had her ND test her for food allergies. (on top of the other anemia, general CBC screen) Turns out she is very sensitive to gluten. After being off gluten, she was a different kid, much more energy.

Hope your dd feels better soon.

[love2all]

Food allergies
Mono- yes, even in a kid that young- I was hospitalized with it at three
anemic
thyroid
all good things to check on and get her back in balance

[A&A]

Personally I'd have her iron levels checked and have her checked for diabetes (which can cause fatigue.)