Free to good home: one child, age four

[Anonymous]

Sleeps 4-6 hours per night, spends remaining 16-18 hours refusing to eat, sit on the potty, get dressed, brush teeth, leave the house, or return to the house. Charming smile, smart as a whip, literally killing me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sleeps 4-6 hours per night, spends remaining 16-18 hours refusing to eat, sit on the potty, get dressed, brush teeth, leave the house, or return to the house. Charming smile, smart as a whip, literally killing me.

I'll take him!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sleeps 4-6 hours per night, spends remaining 16-18 hours refusing to eat, sit on the potty, get dressed, brush teeth, leave the house, or return to the house. Charming smile, smart as a whip, literally killing me.

Btdt. Middle years were fine. Back in the sh!t in the teen years.

[Anonymous]

No big deal. Send them here.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry you aren't enjoying parenting. It's really hard, and impossible to understand what you're getting into before you're in it.

[Anonymous]

We already have one. Will send over to distract yours.

[Anonymous]

I’ll take him/her.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I’ve been trying to sell mine for years. People frown upon selling kids to the circus these days.

[Anonymous]

Oh no, that sleep schedule would have me ending up as the subject of a Dateline episode. I’m so sorry you’re going through it. Any ideas on what’s causing the lack of sleep? Is it a phase?

Mine are 6 and 3 and I get the old “running out for cigarettes” jokes now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh no, that sleep schedule would have me ending up as the subject of a Dateline episode. I’m so sorry you’re going through it. Any ideas on what’s causing the lack of sleep? Is it a phase?

Mine are 6 and 3 and I get the old “running out for cigarettes” jokes now.

OP here. Never been an amazing sleeper but also not terrible. Has had trouble falling asleep for a while so we focus a lot on that. Busy brain means it's hard to calm down enough to fall asleep, but also scared of the dark. However, if we did an early bedtime (7 to 7:30) generally we could get him asleep by 9 at the latest. Not ideal, but he's not an early riser generally so it would work out. He'd sleep until 7:30 and sometimes sleep during nap time if he needed it.

But in the last month or so that 9pm has crept later and later even with serious intervention on our part (like lying in his bed with him until he falls asleep, which we are hitting our limit on because often he's just climbing all over us and whining and saying he can't fall asleep). Plus he's started randomly waking up earlier (closer to 6, sometimes as early as 5). It is not unusual for him to still be awake at 11pm or midnight, which is after we normally go to bed. It's rough. And then because of the lack of sleep he's just exhausting during the day, fighting everything because he's so overtired. Will not nap when he's like this, won't even do a quiet time. You'd think he'd pass out while watching TV or something but nothing -- screen time just seems to make it all worse so we've been restricting that but that means he's all over us all the time and we don't get a break. And then it just cycles into the next night and bedtime is a nightmare because he's so tired but fighting sleep.

I know it's like 70% Christmas and schedule changes (we didn't even travel or do much with family this year, but his preschool went into quarantine 10 days before Christmas so the last couple weeks have been very abnormal). But wow was it bad today and tonight and I'm just wiped out. I'd give anything to drop him with a grandparent or something for three days to just get my own mental reset but that's not an option. I'm so tired.

[Anonymous]

Will he fall asleep in the car? Might be time to take a drive. You can put on some music or a podcast and he's strapped in so can't make a mess or anything.

[Anonymous]

Not all kids need that much sleep, mine doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Get any sweet tasting baby magnesium drops from WF or calm mag. Seriously, nothing will get him sleeping or pooping faster than that.

My youngest is a senior. I will take your 4 yr old...for a few hours or a few days. I am getting all teary eyed about my baby leaving the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will he fall asleep in the car? Might be time to take a drive. You can put on some music or a podcast and he's strapped in so can't make a mess or anything.

I was about to say he's wound up tighter and it's affecting his sleep. I have a very similar kid although it hasn't been that bad and we have to disrupt the cycle.
Take him hiking one afternoon. Hike and explore from like 1:00 until 5:00 until the sun is going down. Feed him on the road get a big meal and make sure that this hike is like an hour or two hours away and make sure that you're driving as the Sun is setting and if he doesn't fall asleep then then you need to go to the doctor and get him a sleep study.
Also suggest that you try calm magnesium and tart cherry juice.

[Anonymous]

Girl, get you some kids melatonin gummies.