not going down to sleep very well - 2years

[kezzi78]

  My little one has just turned 2 years old and we have had this problem before which we solved with a longer wind down time but we are now back to square on. The problem is getting her to sleep at nights, she tries procrastinating at every opportunity: wanting food, drink, books, toilet etc and when we do not do all the above we get hysterical screaming. If we are in the room she is happier... her schedule looks like this

7.00am wake up - milk in sippy cup or a cup of tea
8.00am - 8.15am breakfast
10.30am snack
either nap before lunch at 12.00pm or after lunch at 1.00-1.30pm for about 1 hour
3.00pm snack
5.45pm dinner
6.15pm bath
6.45pm reading in bed
7.00pm bed

do you think she needs to drop her nap because on the occassions we have missed a nap she sleeps immediately although very grumpy by 5.00pm. Any help would be gratefully received

[* Paula *]

I think it seems to be something to do with the age group.

I started a thread a while back about my 2 year old not going to sleep until nearly 10pm some nights - after playing with our schedule, and letting things ride out for a bit, things have improved, although some days we still have him playing in bed.

Here is a link to my thread.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=96990.0

Paula

[kezzi78]

thanks for this, how long did it take him to grow out of this.... Our little one has been potty trained since she was 19 months however we are working on the dry nights at the moment. We do get her up and put her on the toilet at 10.00pm whilst still asleep and sometimes she wakes about 3.00am or 4.00am asking for the toilet.

do you think this is affecting her going to bed sleep

[Layla]

She's probably a little young to give up her nap completely.

Isabella went through this phase as well..... stalling at bedtime & asking for one more book, one more song, potty, etc...

What really helped us was to name the process of our windown "after bath we are going to sit on the potty & read 5 books" (or whatever). Then as each book went by I would repeat "3 more books to go & then bedtime... is there anything you need before I finish". So it gave her plenty of chances to tell me if she wanted more water or food or potty.... then at the last book I would say good buy to all the things in her room & leave. She would call out for me for more .... but I would only come back to tell her its night time, Bella needs to go to sleep & mummy needs to go to sleep. I guess it was about a week before she gave up.

Also with the potty training... I wanted to say that night time training comes alot later than daytime training. Don't put the pressure on her to stay dry cause that in itself could be affecting her night sleep. They usually show signs of being ready when they wake up in the morning with a dry nappy (& more than 1 day in a row). Have a look at the potty training forum but from memory some 4yo's are still not able to hold it in for all night.

hth
Layla

[kezzi78]

thanks layla

there is no pressure for her to be dry this is something she is doing herself every morning waking up dry. we have picked her up at 10pm for a wee but she doesnt really wake up. the hardest thing is really getting her to go down with out screaming for an hour

[Layla]

Does the nap differ based on what activities you do for that day? If her nap starts some days as late as 1/1.30pm & ends around 2.30pm then she might not be ready for bed until 8pm. They only really need 13hrs of sleep in total so she might not need 12hrs at night anymore

[georgesmummy]

My son is nearly 26 months and we are having going to sleep at night issues now when he has been a great sleeper. Once he is gone he is fine but he is now crying "Mummy come back" lots. I go back each time (working up to waiting outside for one minute before going back). I just give him a cuddle in the cot then say "Its time for sleeping now, Mummy loves you very much and will see you in the morning" and come out. He was trying to draw out the wind down process - one more story etc. When I go back he is fine and wants to start to chat and will given any chance - Mummy wearing shoes, want another story etc etc. Hence the now not talking to him other than Its sleeping time etc. This can go on until about 8pm.

His bedtime is 7pm, waking up about 6.30 - 7am. Napping on days he is at nursery can vary but usually about 1 - 1.5 hours but on non nursery days he can still nap after lunch at about 12.15 until 2.30. It doesn't seem to make any difference to the sleep at night now whether he has had a long nap or not.

We have a daughter of 4.5 months too (who is a great sleeper) and his crying doesn't wake her in her room. He seems to have accepted our daughter well and is great with her is this delayed reaction to her ? 

I feel if I keep doing what I am doing it will ease in the end but we have been having this most nights for 2 or 3 weeks now. Any suggestions please ?  I am usually on my own at bedtime so my husband can't go in - but it is the same at weekends for him. We are trying to be consistent. Any tips ?