4 year old daughter never sleeps, what can I do?

There may be a legitimate reason for this... then again there may not be.

I would suggest, that you have a talk with her about the importance of her sleep and of your own and what can happen when we dont get enough sleep. Explain to her that because it is your job to take care of her, she is no longer allowed to get out of bed or cry in the night. If she gets out of bed, you calmly and firmly take her by the arm and put her back in bed. "Its sleep time, I love you, see you in the morning" and dont deviate from that statement. If you hear her crying, go in, have a look, to let her know you are still checking and then say "You are ok, no more crying, its sleep time, I love you, see you in the morning". and leave. I would try sticking to your guns on this (or some variation of it that works for you) for two full weeks. Then if there has been no improvement, definately see a doctor. Also try changing her room around, asking her if there is something that wakes her (not sure if you believe in this but I believe that children are more likely to precieve ghosts and things of that nature and at 4, she may already feel unable or hesitant to tell you...with kids you never know). No sugar after 4pm, and no heavy meals for at least 3 hours before bed.

Best of Luck

Okay so I don't really have this problem with my 4 year old but she does wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and goes potty (she is downstairs, I'm upstairs), sometimes I hear her go potty and go back to bed other times I don't. She also wakes up every once in a while and that is when she is scared or hears something that scares her. Normally I can just talk to her for a few minutes to calm her down and she goes back to sleep. Maybe you should ask her if she is scared of something, or if she doesn't have a night light in her room put one there. My daughter will not sleep without a night light because she is scared of the dark. Okay anyways for your problem sounds like you need to wear her out even more then what you are doing already. I know you said she wakes up at 5am, not sure on what time you put her to bed but my daughter goes to bed anywhere from 9:30pm-10:30pm.

hi

might be worth trying:

a dream wee at around 11 - you gently lift her up and place her on a potty in her room (she'll wake if you go to the bathroom) - often works and they don't wake up (or if do, go back to sleep, often it seems mid wee...)

do you have one of those nightlight/torches? she may be ok going to sleep in a dark room but hates waking up in a dark room

her body now may be used to this and you have to help her reset her body clock - i've never been able to let my little ones cry on their own either... you could try thinking that you'll give her a week where you will go in and 3 am, give her a kiss and get in for a cuddle until she's nearly or actually asleep - after a few days this may kickstart her body clock so she sleep through the 4am usual wake up. you will be tired for those few days, but its how i got my three year old through. you then reduce it, ie for 3 days go in for a quicker cuddle, 3 days later a kiss and a hug. it can work depending on your child.

guess i can only advise what worked for mine, another one that seemed to hit home was she always wanted to be full of energy like sportacus (lazy town) so talked lots of how brilliant sleep was, and how fantastic dreams were, and even if you weren't asleep your body was storing up lots of play energy. does she already have a favourite pillow or maybe you could shop for her own special sleep pillow.

have no idea if any of these will work for you, they did for me but lots of other advice didn't .

good luck, and fingers crossed

Kids tend to go through stages like this. Give her an activity that will help her burn off her energy, maybe an exercise DVD, or dancing (maybe even a treadmill, lol, jk). Most of the time, this problem will eventually solve itself.

Fill her stomach before age sleep

i'd talk to her doc...i really have no idea. im sorry. good luck!