Is it just me?

[conuly]

Am I the only person who thinks that 3 am is an unreasonable hour for a baby/toddler (young toddler? Older baby? Whatever) to be awake and playing with people? Is it perfectly sensible to find quiet games to play with the kid at that hour instead of putting her back to sleep? And when asked for quiet games, is it wrong to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the kid needs to sleep more than she needs to have fun? (Not to mention it can't be good for the parents to be up at all hours when they presumably do not have odd sleeping habits by nature.)

Because, frankly, I think the advice (politely stated at first... the person in question doesn't like me, and I feel no need to keep up the pretense) "PUT THE KID BACK TO BED" is eminently better than whatever That Twit was fishing for.

Comments

[angelamermaid.livejournal.com]

I say, PUT THE KID TO BED. If you're letting the child dictate, at that age, when they play and when they sleep, you're asking for a world of hurt.

[conuly]

To be fair, I'm not actually opposed to the kid not sleeping through the night. I just think that playing with them at that time is absurd.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily, no.

Seth never had a bedtime and like me, slept when tired, and stayed awake when not tired.

Now, at 4 years old, he has figured out he is much happier with his "sun go down, moon go up!" (bedtime) and "moon go down, sun go up" (awaking time) schedule. And I was perfectly fine with letting HIM figure out what HIS body likes.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Yes playing is absurd.

Delayed sleep syndrome may be an issue with the child but that is something a doctor needs to decide. There could be other reasons too (T does NOT SLEEP when he's having rough weeks), but at that point you need A Plan. Just playing isn't teaching good sleep habits.

We still sometimes cosleep and I will do that, sometimes the kid doesn't want TO PLAY, but comfort/company. It works for us.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I don't see a link, so without any specific details - I'd say, not necessarily. There are all sorts of sleep issues, and I am a big fan of taking things case by case. Without knowing anything about this baby, I don't know if there aren't good reasons to let it wake up at 3AM and be entertained. Maybe other things really weren't working.

I know that when I was a child, going to bed at my bedtime was useless. It just meant more time that I laid in bed with nothing to do. It didn't help me fall asleep. I was much better off when I was allowed to stay up reading. I still fell asleep at roughly the same time, but I was reading rather than being bored. Obviously, that was when I was much older.

I know a lot of people with sleep issues, and I don't think there is any one size fits all solution.

[angelamermaid.livejournal.com]

I say, PUT THE KID TO BED. If you're letting the child dictate, at that age, when they play and when they sleep, you're asking for a world of hurt.

[conuly]

To be fair, I'm not actually opposed to the kid not sleeping through the night. I just think that playing with them at that time is absurd.

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily, no.

Seth never had a bedtime and like me, slept when tired, and stayed awake when not tired.

Now, at 4 years old, he has figured out he is much happier with his "sun go down, moon go up!" (bedtime) and "moon go down, sun go up" (awaking time) schedule. And I was perfectly fine with letting HIM figure out what HIS body likes.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Yes playing is absurd.

Delayed sleep syndrome may be an issue with the child but that is something a doctor needs to decide. There could be other reasons too (T does NOT SLEEP when he's having rough weeks), but at that point you need A Plan. Just playing isn't teaching good sleep habits.

We still sometimes cosleep and I will do that, sometimes the kid doesn't want TO PLAY, but comfort/company. It works for us.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I don't see a link, so without any specific details - I'd say, not necessarily. There are all sorts of sleep issues, and I am a big fan of taking things case by case. Without knowing anything about this baby, I don't know if there aren't good reasons to let it wake up at 3AM and be entertained. Maybe other things really weren't working.

I know that when I was a child, going to bed at my bedtime was useless. It just meant more time that I laid in bed with nothing to do. It didn't help me fall asleep. I was much better off when I was allowed to stay up reading. I still fell asleep at roughly the same time, but I was reading rather than being bored. Obviously, that was when I was much older.

I know a lot of people with sleep issues, and I don't think there is any one size fits all solution.