Please Help!! 2yo Sleep out of Control

[suzannemoore]

I will say I am sorry for both the long post and not having been on here in a long time.  We are at our wits end with our 2 yo and her sleeping habits.  She goes to a sitter twice a week and when there she always takes a nap.  I have not been able to get her to nap at home for about four months, but when she does nap during the day she will not go to sleep until 10-11pm.  For example, last night we were home all day playing outside and the kids were so tired they had dinner and were in the bed asleep by 5:45pm.  My 2 yo woke up at 10:00 and stayed awake until around 2 am.  She is a nightmare to get to sleep at night. Our routine takes the better part of three hours now.  If I begin her bedtime at 7 she will not be asleep until 10.  She has been waking at night getting out of her bed and having us lay with her until she falls asleep.  When she wakes again same thing.  We are so tired we can not see straight!  I need some help with falling asleep on her own and staying in her bed and most of all how in the world do we get her to go to bed at a normal hour??  I know she is so OT!!  Please help!!  I dont know where to go from here!!  Thank you!!

[Mattsmummy]

Bumping you up...
You say your LO is 2 years old - closer to 2 or closer to 3?
Sounds to me like she doesn't need a nap during the day or perhaps a capped nap. When she does nap - how long?
Has she ever been an independent sleeper for BT?

[suzannemoore]

She just turned 2.  It is so complicated because the sitter says she always takes a nap at her house, but she only goes once or twice a week so her sleeping is so inconsistent.  I have not been able to get her to nap at home for about 4 months now and she has just been going to bed super early.  When she takes a nap at the sitters house she says that she sleeps no longer than an hour.  We have battled with independent sleeping and she will do it off and on but not consistently.  BW was so much easier with my son!  She is a totally super spirited child!!

[cath~]

Hi there,
My LO was similar in that before she stopped napping for good she'd still nap really easily for her nanny but never for us!
How long are her nights when she doesn't nap? What time is BT and WU? Does she have a quiet time at all during the day?
Does it always take her 3hrs to fall asleep at BT or just on days when she naps?
You say you are battling with independent sleep. How does she fall asleep at BT? What help do you give her? A lot of spiriteds do need extra help to wind down and nod off at BT so it's no unusual for her to need a bit more help in switching off and nodding off. Does she ever STTN once she's asleep? If so, how often would you say she does this?

Sorry for all the questions! Just trying to get full picture