Adjusting to new schedule- how long?

[keyslover]

We haven't had a very good adjustment to preschool this year as far as sleep and tiredness. This is her second year of preschool. She is great at school- MTR 1/2 days. She is so tired when she comes home, but will not nap.

I do rest time, but she isn't great at it because if she slows down she will sleep. She has been a non napper since she was a baby. She has been a crappy sleeper since she was a baby too. She HATES sleep. I should mention she is a "spirited child"

Well now she is having major meltdowns because of being so tired. I have no clue how to handle this anymore. Obviously more sleep is the best place to start, but I don't know how to make her sleep more.

I have tried time outs, sticker rewards to earn bigger things (she will tell me that there are days she doesn't' want to earn a sticker), the only thing that truly calms her down is for me to hold her and sing to her. Great, but I have another child to look after too.

Also, she and her sister just started sharing a room. Her sister doesn't sleep through the night yet, but doesn't wake her up. So there have been a few changes to get used to.

I guess a few questions-
1) short of drugs, how do I get her to rest/sleep more?
2) ideas to deal with full on meltdowns?
3) With the two girls in the same room, will they start getting on a similar schedule? How long will it take?

Thanks for any advice. I will try to check this if there are any questions. DD1 is 4 and DD2 is 15 months.

[Deleted]

Probably Captain Obvious, but what time is bedtime and can you move it half an hour earlier?

[keyslover]

Sept 19, 2012 13:16:16 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Probably Captain Obvious, but what time is bedtime and can you move it half an hour earlier?

Doh- would be nice to know that huh? We start the process around 8:15-8:30. It involves bathroom, brush teeth, jams, 3 books and then a story to fall asleep. Yes, she doesn't fall asleep on her own and needs a story. So she will fall asleep around 9:30ish. She wakes up between 7-8.

Sometimes I think her sleep isn't very restful, I hear her in the night talking in her sleep (things that happened during the day and jibberish) and moving around a lot.