My 3-year-old boy has been sleeping late eg 10pm and wakes up as early as 7am. I really wish for him to sleep more to have sufficient rest. Any suggestions to coax him sleep earlier?

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Wow, you really need to get a sleep pattern drawn up for him pronto! Good thing you've recognised this and are willing to work on it. Here's what I've done with my boys who have had similar lack of sleep issues too: #1 Pinky Promise Use positive reinforcement to get your child promise to get to bed and to sleep at a particular time. Try not to make materialistic promises to them. Instead promise him a day out to his favourite arcade shop if he kept to his sleep time in a month. And soon he would be conditioned to his sleeping schedule. #2 Get back to dreamland If your child loves the nightlife and comes wandering into your bed for snuggles and talk, you need to lead him firmly back into his bed and tuck him up and kiss him goodnight. Do it repeatedly until he finally gives up and goes to dreamland. #3 Sleep Association “Night night.” *Lights Out* can be association that children will link in their mind to sleep. A relaxing and consistent routine would be a good association to signal it’s time for sleep. Within time, a specific action or word would allow your child to drift off into dreamland in no time. Hope these tips help!

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My eldest daugther, 6 years old, has skipped nap since she is 4 years old. Thus she normally goes to bed at 6-7pm and wakes up 5-6am. To me, she appears contented and not restless during daytime so I think her sleep amount is sufficient without nap. Does your boy take nap in the afternoon? If you wish him to have more sleep, you should implement nap time 1-2hours for him. If he does take nap, then you do not have to worry he is not having sufficient sleep and waking up too early, 7am. If your concern is he sleeps too late, i.e. 10pm, what you can do are: - shift afternoon nap time earlier. - tuck in bed earlier. This will take longer time for him to fall asleep in room but once body clock has been established, it will acustomise to earlier bedtime.

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If your boy has an afternoon nap, it's time to stop it. Don't go cold turkey, but gradually reduce the time he sleeps in the afternoon. Do some 'winding down' activities before bed time too, like a song, a calming story and even a short back rub :) Good luck!

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