3 summer parenting challenges- advice welcome

[bettyjones]

1. Transitioning my almost 3 yr old to her own bed and room

2. Restoring nap time

3. Potty training for preschool in the fall.

Last night was night three in her own bed. My dd now has a futon on the floor so I can lay w her until she falls asleep and when she wakes on the night. Despite being right there she does cry a bit for the big bed. But I think in the end she'll sleep better b/c I am 34 weeks pregnant & get up to pee almost hourly. Plus I worry about her sleep w/a new baby in the big bed.

All year while I worked my dd napped for the sitter in her tiny bed. She started fighting nap in the spring but is so cranky, clumsy w/ out one. I am home full time right now. I can't stand to hear her cry at nap. I am trying to convince her to relax and have quiet time. I tried lying w/ her but she couldn't sleep. And I couldn't either w/ her poking me and climbing over me. Sometime she'll sleep in the car but I hate to resort to driving her to sleep.

Dd has stayed dry at night since she was 18 months old. If I put her in underwear she'll hold it until 1 pm. Not the best for her body I imagine. She won't pee/ poop in the potty. But likes a dry diaper. She'll wait to pee in the bathtub. she asks for a diaper to poop in.

All three things are overwhelming so I am going to try to just focus on sleeping in her own room.

Advice?

[newbiemama09]

we're dealing with very similar transitions.

1) as far as getting her into her own bed, my advice is to try try and try again. and again and again. it took weeks of getting DD into her bed, patting her back to get her to stay asleep, taking her back out to rock, then putting her back in and patting to sleep. it was a looooooooooong process. but we just stuck with it, and kept trying. DD rarely spends all night in her bed, so when she wakes up from her big girl bed at night (anywhere between 1 and 5 am) we'll bring her into bed with us. it's easier than trying to get her back in her own bed.

2) nap time: i've discoverd there's a small window of opportunity to get that in. my key, the earlier the better. at daycare they ate lunch promtly at 11:15, and by 11:45 it was lights out and everyone in bed. and she ALWAYS NAPPED at daycare with no problem. so i just try to keep on that same routine. early lunch, a few books, lots of talking about how it's nap time soon, one more book and nap, after lunchtime it's naptime, etc. at 3 years old kids, theoretically, should still have a nap time. and if your child is showing signs of being tired, it's worth trying over and over again. we still rock to sleep at 2 years old, so find something, anything, that will work with your LO. in desperate times i have jsut gotten in the car and drove. did it yesterday because i couldn't handle not napping myself (i'm 30 weeks preggo) and DD wouldn't rock to sleep. so car it is!!

3) if you stay at home full-time, i've heard great things about the "potty training in 3 days" method. haven't yet used it myself, we're not quite there, but i've had friends and family use it with CD'ing and they've loved it! i think the secret it to do lots of prep work, lots of talking before hand about how no more diapers and only using the potty. then when you "take the diaper away" make sure to make potty time fun. when they're on the potty, use rewards, read books or distracting toys so they'll stay on the potty for longer and hopefully use it.

best of luck! we're going through the same thing and i have all these goals (potty training, all night in bed) before the baby comes but i don't have much longer!!

[bettyjones]

Nighttime is going okay. Some nights she sleeps through and others she wakes 2 or3 times. It is a transition. Since I am pregnant and up a lot anyway it is not so bad.

Nap time- glad to hear someone else resorts to the car too. Not being able to get my dd to sleep at nap time makes me feel like failure somehow. I really need the break & rest too. Right now she naps about 2:30 which is late. I'll see if I can make it earlier.

That's for the potty training tip. I'll check it out.

[lifeguard]

I don't have much advice for nighttime - we transitioned ds to his own room fairly early so we did things a bit differently.

For the naps - ds dropped his nap VERY suddenly. It is NO fun at all. I'm 28 weeks pregnant & would LOVE to have naps myself but it is rare that he will nap anymore outside of the car & the days he does he ends up being awake late (it's 10:30 & he's still in there talking to himself). We have just started doing quiet time. It honestly took me about 3 weeks to convince him it wasn't a traumatic, awful thing. He would get SO upset at the suggestion of it. I got him a car floormat & fold-out farm thing from IKEA. They are quiet time toys only & he is generally excited to set them up. Today he had his quiet time in the spare room instead of his room which is fine with me. I'm still working on having him STAY in the room for longer than 10 minutes at a go but my goal is an hour of him being in there quietly (ok, not really that quietly).

For pling we did a 3-day thing. It took longer than 3 days (but ds was 22 months so comprehension wasn't quite the same as a 3 yr-old) but it worked.

[carmel23]

Does she enjoy stories on CD/books on tape?  That is how we did quiet time.... pop in a story on tape/cd and lt them relax and listen to in in a cozy position, in a quiet/darkened room.  If they fall asleep, great.  If not, it at least is an experience of a rest time/relaxation.

And is preschool 1/2 day or full day?   My daughter started napping again when she started preschool at 3.5... All the busy socializing and working tired her out! 

[bettyjones]

I tried a book on tape today and staying with her for nap but she wouldn't sleep. Finally she asked to go for a drive. Some days I am so tired I don't think it's safe for me to drive in circles. She screams if I leave which is very stressful.

Preschool is half day and I am on maternity leave next year so I will be home. I really want some sort of routine established. I think she'll really need the nap then.

Maybe it is time to try just quiet time? But she seems to need the nap & I need a break. She fights bedtime more without a nap. She goes down around 9 or 9:30 w /o a nap and 10 or so with one.