We realized that she needed to make a shift in her nap schedule that reduced her daily nap time so that she would be tired enough to go down at bedtime and tired enough not to fight going down for her naps. However, she began to have trouble falling asleep at night and began to fight going down for her naps at this time. Until she reached just over 3 years old our daughter went down to nap at 1pm. You can read more details about some of the activities we did to keep busy in my post about stay at home activities for toddlers.įor lunch, our 3 year old typically eats a peanut butter and honey sandwich, yogurt or banana, and water or juice.Īfter lunch, our 3 year old usually plays independently or sometimes has tv time until her little sister’s nap time begins at 1pm. Since things shut down in the second half of her 3rd year I tried to come up with constructive activities to keep her busy in the mornings without being out. Recent world events have changed morning activity time for our daughter dramatically, but before many things shut down we followed a rotation of visiting the gym, library, or grocery store each morning during this block of time. She typically eats cereal with milk for breakfast and I give her a vitamin gummy and some water. It usually takes me a bit to get up and going even after our 3 year old wakes each morning, so she often plays quietly in my room until I get going for the day and we have breakfast. (By about halfway through her 3rd year she started picking out her own clothes!) (You can read more about the clock we use and how it works in my post about dealing with a toddler waking early.) After waking I usually have to prompt her to go potty and then she puts on clean underwear or a pull-up and clothes. We use a toddler sleep training clock to help our daughter remain quiet in her room until 7:30 each morning, so she usually comes out of her room to start the day right at 7:3am. There is no one cookie-cutter structure that is best! Our Daily Schedule For A 3 Year Old Toddler This is simply what worked for us and our daughter! It’s my hope that sharing the information about our days helps to give you a benchmark and some ideas as you build a routine that works for you and your child. The breakdown includes details about her adjusted and shortened nap times, explanation about activities that we did on a weekly basis, and some notes about snack and meal times.Įvery child has different needs, interests, and appetites. Therefore, as our daughter is just weeks away from turning 4, I’m looking back at the last year and want to share with you a breakdown of her 3 year old daily routine. I’ve found that learning from what other moms have done with their children at different points as they grow has been extremely helpful to me as our family grows. Therefore, we made a few adjustments to shorten her nap times – and it fixed both problems within days! She needed less sleep in her daily routine and, even though I missed the longer naps, we both needed a routine that fit her needs to keep us sane. I finally realized that perhaps the problem with our daughter’s previously good sleep patterns was that she genuinely wasn’t tired at bedtimes or naptimes. I had forgotten that my growing daughter needed a daily routine that grew with her! She also began struggling to remain quiet and in her room at nap times. She started to come out of her room multiple times for petty reasons hours after bedtime and we couldn’t figure out what to do about it. Shortly after our daughter turned 3 she began to really struggle to fall asleep at night. It’s a tough age to navigate a daily routine with, but finding a consistent rhythm can provide really helpful stability to a 3 year old’s world. Some 3 year olds also begin to participate in preschool. They may be starting to outgrow the need for a daily nap and many begin to crave structured activities to engage their growing capacity to learn throughout the day. Figuring out a 3 year old sleep schedule, satisfying their growing appetites, and filling their days with engaging activities can be a challenge! 3 year olds are in a lot of transition.
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