taking forever to go to sleep--naps AND nite!!

[rachelle]

I know we have had a lot going on in our lives, so Kiandra's sleep habits are probably being effected by that, teething, and being 2, but I thought I'd see if anyone has any thoughts on this matter.

For a LONG time Kiandra has had trouble going to sleep at nite. She just plays (with nothing, basically--room is empty) and talks and stalls, etc.  That's happened since before she moved to her bed (at 19 months), and it happens when she's had any length of nap...not just long or short.  Some nites she'll do better and go right to sleep, but here lately it's gotten worse.  She can be super calm and tired, even telling us she's sleepy, etc.  We try to keep playtime in the evening quiet so she doesn't get wound up, and we do our normal routine.  But the closer we get to bedtime, the more hyper she gets.  And once in bed, she just bounces off the walls.  She doesn't eat sugary snacks or drink sugary drinks, not even juice.  I don't get it!! 

And now she's figured out how to turn her light on, so that makes it worse.  We've tried taping it with painter's tape, but she somehow gets it off, we've put her dresser in front of and leaning against the lightswitch, and she somehow turns it on still.  I don't know if they make lightswitch covers or anything???

And these last few days her naps have been taking forever too.  Today I heard loud noises and she was both jumping on her bed and jumping off her bed, and when I went in there she told me she was trying to reach the light (like the actual light in the ceiling  :roll:  )  I just don't know what to do with her.

I go in there, lay her back down, cover her up, etc.  But each time I go in she seems to get more wound up...I just don't know what to do anymore.  I think she is getting overtired because she's not going to sleep till late (10 or so tonite, 11 a couple of times this week!!!!), and many times wakes up early.  Then her naps are sometimes good, sometimes not, and she'll wake up tired.  Any thoughts, please?

[Gareth - Harvey & Theo's Dad]

When you go into her Rachelle, are you saying anything at all to her, or are you completely silent?  I find it best not to engage them.

Harvey will sometimes get out of bed and start switching his light on or off, or just stand by his baby gate.  I used to tell him to go back to bed or something similar and then he'd keep getting back out.  What I find works best is to say nothing whatsoever, pick him back up and lay him back down, it takes a few goes, but now he gets the message.  If he does it now, as soon as he hears me coming up the stairs he runs back into bed himself, then stays there. 

As for the light, we have all our circuit box close, so it's no real trouble to go and throw the breaker for the upstairs light circuit without affecting anything else.  We haven't needed to use it yet for Harvey, but it's a strategy we're willing to try if needs be.

HTH

[Katet]

I have to agree with Gareth
Aiden is only recently in a bed, but we can't talk to him more than saying it's time to sleep. dh or I just pick him up & put him in bed & repeat.
If she is compundedly tired, you may have to get her to bed super early for a few days to catch up... I know when ds gets over really  tired it takes about 3 days to catch up.

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

I was also going to suggest no interaction and talking.  BE REALLY BORING.  Nathan used to get very hyper when he was having trouble going down for naps, the more I interacted the worse he got and then throw in overtiredness and we were all a mess.  It did take a while and he would move on to a new distraction at nap time (he also has nothing in his room bar books and soft toys) - like kicking the wall, jumping off the bed, opening and closing drawers, pulling open all the tabs on his nappies etc.  But after doing each of those things for a few days each he then tends to calm down again.

Good luck, just be calm and boring and it will pass.

[Deb_in_oz]

it must be the age as our girls are very close in age - alex started this about 2 weeks ago.  she has always (and i mean from day 1) gone down for naps and night sleep without a problem.  suddenly she has delayed her nap and as i now have the 2 girls midday nap in synch i am terrified of her waking Liv because from the other end of the house i will suddenly hear a huge squeal /shriek and then jumping etc in her cot.  Right before bed as well - she (who has never even had juice) is so hyper it amazes us - squealing, bouncing, making herself twirl and go crazy, etc

all i can think of is she is trying to burn off more energy in order to sleep (like when babies cry and fight the swaddle for 10 min). 

i usually go in once and tell her to lay down and it is sleepy time, etc and at least to be quiet since Olivia is sleeping.  she has been responsive to that (for now).