2 Year Old Sleep Issues

Wow ! It sounds exactly the same as what we went thru with our Son ! He slept perfectly but then about two weeks after he as moved into his big boy bed, (he was 26months) it would take me about 2hrs to get him to sleep and then he would scream in the middle of the night 2am to 5am. Geez, my hubby and I almost got divorced ! It was brutal!!

So here's what I did, (it takes work and patience...but it does work) I followed the Super Nanny's advise.
When putting him to bed, I would stay in the room with him for 15 minutes or so, sitting at the foot of his bed. (I would briefly reassure him that "Mommy is here" "Mommy isn't going anywhere". Then stopped talking. Did this for a few days, then I moved to sitting on the floor by the door.....then a few days later I would stand by the door, then a few days later I moved a chair into the hallway outside his room, and reassure him "mommy is here" and then I slowly moved the chair down the hallway. It took about 2 months !! Now he sleeps great again ! :-))

As for during the middle of the night, I really can't remember much - it all seems like such a blur -. but I did try a white noise machine......and I would sit at the foot of his bed. and reasure him...etc.
(all this between screaming fights with the hubby, because all he wanted to do was bring him to our bed - and I refused.)

Check out the Super Nanny ! She is great !
Basically, your child is growing up and the world around her is getting bigger and she needs to feel reassured and comforted. This is what comes with thier independence - they regress a bit and need extra love.

Good luck !

My son did the same thing from about 14-17 months, turned out that he had so much thick mucus behind his ear drums he needed tubes! He was up in the middle of the night because he was in pain and couldn't tell me exactly what was wrong! Our Ped. said that a tell tale sign of ear infections is waking around 2am every night. I'm not sure of your child's health situation, but it may be worth checking with your ped!

I 've heard from friends that around that age kids get night mares. They also start thinking about monsters in the closets , scared of the dark and things like that. Ou oldest had been a great "crib sleeper" since he was 6 months old, and around 2 he did start the screaming as well. We started laying down with him for naps and bedtime too and have to tell you it used to take a long time but now at 3 1/2 it's 2-5 min and he's asleep( some nights he comes to us in the middle of the night too). I do not really care as long everyone sleeps. You might want to try super nanny approach, we just never bothered(time will come (teenager) when he would not want to walk on the same side of the street with us so one extra snugle does not bother us:))By the way in my country kids cosleep with parents(grandparents) well into teenage years due to lack of space, and I do not have any sleeping essues(bad habits) neither do millions others.
Hope you find something that works:)

Wow, she's been sleeping so great for so long. Something must really be bothering her for her to scream like that. I read your other response...has she watched anything on TV lately that had something "scary" to her in it?? It could be nightmares or something. Actually the super nanny approach is pretty good in a case like this I think because you aren't supposed to sleep in the bed with the child, just be present in the room. It's on their website and it completely explains it.

Our son turned three in May, but this past February we went through what you are going through. I was pregnant at the time which made it difficult because I was already tired. It got to the point where I would stand up to go to my son's room and my legs actually gave out from under me. I was exhausted. He was crying and screaming about six times a night. He was so anxious and didn't want us to leave him. I didn't cave. I sat outside of his door, and every time he cried out I would say, "Time for bed." I must have said it a thousand times. He would cry and scream, but I knew I had to win. Our son never came into our room to sleep with us. The main goal was to reassure him that we were there, and that HE could put himself back to sleep. It took a month, and he settled down. It was the worst month I've ever had. Now he sleeps in a big boy bed in his own bedroom and every night he says, "Can you be outside the door?" Yes!

Hang in there.

We're going through a nightmare phase right now; fortunately mine is articulate enough to tell us what the dreams are about -- and it has nothing to do with anything that she's seen or watched. If yours slept fine outside of her room, it seems like she might have a fear of something in the room. If you haven't already, try a nightlight. If it's monsters, use a bottle of scent and call it "monster spray" and make a big show of spritzing away the monsters before you leave her.

One trick that has worked for us is to put her in our bed at her bedtime (prevents the not-going-to-sleep part) and then moving her up to her bed when it's time for us to sleep. If you're exhausted, and willing, just co-sleep for a couple of nights and let everyone catch up on their sleep. Then you can all face this nightmare on an even keel. Good luck!