Goes down great at nap but bedtime is aweful!

[Nick's mom]

My 2.5 year old goes down in less than 5 minutes for his nap but takes more than an hour to fall asleep at night!  He tosses and turns and plays for over an hour.  We have a consistant bedtime routine.  His schedule goes like this:

6:00-12:30  Breakfast, Activity, Lunch
12:30-2:15   Nap
2:15-8:30   Snack, Play, Dinner, Play, bedtime routine
8:30              bed

The problem is that he doesn't fall asleep usually until 10-10:30.  I have tried putting to bed earlier to see if he is over tired but didn't have any luck.  Maybe I didn't stick to it long enough (about a week)

[Matthew's Mommy]

Go back to putting him down earlier.  The time between his nap time and bedtime might be too long. Also lots of fresh air prior to his bedtime helps.  Why not doing a walk after dinner, a bath and then into bed no later than 7:30. That will give him lots of time to shift about.. especially if he's waking up at 6 am.

[Riverside6903]

Hey there!

I agree, if she is waking up at 6am and goes to bed at 8:30pm, you need to put her to bed much earlier.  She has too much wake time.  She maybe over-tired by that point.  Babies who have earlier bedtimes tend sleep much better.  Remember most babies need to settle themselves down to sleep.  They do this by either talking to themselves for a little bit or just moving around till they get comfortable.  My daughter who is a spirited 26 month old takes about 15-20 minutes to fall asleep after we do our routine.  Here is her typical schedule:

Wakes up between 6:30am and 7am
11:00am lunch
Between 11:30 and 12:00 take her up for her nap depending on how early she woke up.
She'll sleep for 1 1/2 to 2hrs.
Dinner between 5:30 and 6:00pm
Bedtime between 6:30 and 7:15  taking into consideration the 15-20 minutes she needs to settle down to sleep AFTER our routine of brushing teeth, maybe a bath(bath time REVS her up so I try to avoid bath time right before bed, so I try to give her a bath either before dinner).  Then we brush her teeth, I hold her and I sing to her the same lullaby that I have been singing to her since she was about 11mos. old.  Then I put her in her crib.  She has lately tried some stalling techniques like asking for water or needing to potty but I have been good at not giving in.  I try make sure we cover those areas before i put her in bed.

[Nick's mom]

Thanks for the help.  Nicholas doesn't act tired at all, and I can't imagine he'd go to sleeep at 7 or 7:30!  I think he should however because of his early wake up time (which I have tried desperately to delay)  Do your toddlers act tired at that time?

I will try putting to bed at 7:30.  I think I'll bump his nap up to noon also.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Thanks again.

[Riverside6903]

I would look closely at his cues.  My daughter's first tired cues are: seven mile stare, always the fidgeting with her ears, rubbing her nose.  My daughter has always had those cues.  By the time she lets out a yawn she is already close to being overtired.  Maybe try looking for similar cues, babies are different, but many of them have the same sleep cues like Tracy described in her book. 

When kids are overtired it takes them longer to settle down and they even get hyper.  Maybe try extending your routine and get him to calm down more and get more settled down.  Sometimes I need to sing the lullaby to my daughter a few more times than say, the night before, or rock with her a little longer because I know she has had an exciting day.  Hope this helps, just remember an earlier bedtime is best, like Tracy described in her last book, the National Sleep Institute recommends a bedtime of 7pm-7:30pm until the age of FIVE.  Plus that's gives you the evenings to relax and more time for you.

[Katet]

Nick's Mom, Toddlers actually often show they are tired by being hyped up, when they start to get all hyperactive & demanding or quickly going form one activity to another, that tends to be the point at which they are tired! or actually getting close to overtired.