2 Yo Bed Time

She doesn't have a gate across her doorway? Why not? If her room is safe then she's fine to play in there until she goes back to sleep.

I agree with the super nanny approach. Do not interact with her. Just pick her up, and put her back in bed. Don't tell her good night. Just put her back in bed.

It will take a while, but she will start staying in bed.

http://www.supernanny.co.uk/Advice/-/Parenting-Skills/Get...

We tried putting our son back into his bed over and over and over....
It didn't work very well.
Eventually he wised up.
He figured out if he woke us up we'd take him back to his bed and he didn't want that - he wanted ME.
So he'd just tuck himself in at the foot of our bed and hold onto my foot and go back to sleep without waking us up and we'd find him there in the morning.
He never wandered the house - he always made a bee line right for our room (was right across the hall from his room).
He was about 4 when he really started to spend more nights all the way through in his own room.
You might want to try setting up a sleeping bag on the floor next to your bed.
If she can come to your room and tuck herself in there without waking you you'll all start getting a lot more sleep.
Toddlers hate sleeping alone.
In the wild unattended young are prey - so I think seeking parents in the night is almost an instinct that most of them seem to have for a few years.
They do out grow it eventually but it's really frustrating while they are going through it.

Put a baby gate across the door. Tell her night night. And walk away. She will cry and have fits. As long as the room is child proof she will be fine. Make sure she has had a good snack so she's not hungry. She may sleep next to the door and that won't hurt her. This phase passes pretty quickly. So long as you don't play into it. But you and daddy getting up and chasing around is fun for her. Just stop the fun. No drinks no talking just night night and shut the gate.

At this age, we had a gate in front of my daughter's room because our dog would go in there and poop in front of her closet if we didn't. That kept her from ever coming out of her room.

I agree with the other posters, that you need to be just putting her back to bed, not talking, just walk her back to her room. It's what we do with our infant, and it's the best thing to do as they get older as well. The more you stimulate them/talk to them, the wider awake they're going to get and the harder it will be to get them back to sleep.

How are you putting her back to bed? Super Nanny recommends quietly with no conversation putting her back in bed. Boring is the goal.Then leaving the room still saying nothing. Do this over and over until she stays in bed. I suggest starting this on a weekend because you may not get much sleep.

Do you have any idea why she gets up? Is there a pattern? Could she
be hungry, thirsty, too warm, too cold. Would a night light help. Perhaps a flash light. Leave the book you read to her so she can pick it up to look at it.Perhaps you could let her have a few toys in bed so she'd play for a bit before going back to sleep.

How verbal is she? Have you tried talking with her about why she wakes up. Ask her to stay in bed. Perhapsif she just quietly wanders block the door so she can't come out.

Consider her naps and bed times. Perhaps it's time to change them. Perhaps less naps; earlier, later. Perhaps a later bedtime would help.

If she's anxious you could try letting her sleep on a mat in your room to see if she will sleep thru the night.

i dunno. i like the super-nanny approach in general (consistent, low-key, no drama, inexorable) but 2 is awfully young. you got lucky with how easily she took to the bed, but now she's really just being a 2 year old.
i really don't like the notion to lock her in with a gate. i'd much prefer my toddler come snuggle in quietly with me, if it lets the family sleep well, and especially since she goes to bed well on her own.
but if you're bound and determined not to allow any permutation of co-sleeping, and you don't want CIO or locking her in (with which i agree), what choice do you have but to super-nanny it out?
this too shall pass.
khairete
S.

Put the gate that opens on her door instead of in the hallway. Also, put a pull switch on her bedroom light so she can't turn it on at the wall. And Put dark curtains up to block out any outside light. If she has no light to play, and no way to go wander or wake you up, she'll get bored and go to sleep. It might be on the floor, but she'll sleep.

Don't worry about if she's not in bed during this transition. Put her down for the night in bed, and if you go in to find her asleep on the floor, put her back, but if she's awake, just leave her. Don't go in if she gets out of bed in her gated, dark room. She'll get bored and go sleep on her own.

Is she potty trained? If not, I would just go back to the crib and not in any sort of punitive way. My son was in his until he was way past 3 (he was potty trained, but happily rarely if ever needed us to take him to the bathroom in the middle of the night). If she is trained, does she need to pee, or is she just wandering. You could just put a mattress on the floor in your room and let her sleep there if she wakes and comes in. Otherwise, just walk her back to her room and put her in bed. Frustrating but they usually get it eventually. I would never lock her into her room.

I agree with the Super Nanny approach, but not for a 2yo. At that age, nighttime is still scary and lonesome. Some kids do great and others take some time to transition. We co-slept, but many of our friends simply put a cot or some kind of makeshift bed, near their own bed, on the floor and the children were welcome to sleep there if they woke at night. Worked like a charm. She's looking for comfort, she won't find that behind a gate, and I never understood why people in this country are so adamant about forcing their children to sleep alone so young (and listening to a 2yo scream in the middle of the night is not my idea of solving the problem). This stage will pass, no need make it harder than it already is for either of you.

For us it was just a phase. I think the novelty of getting a new freedom was new and adventurous. It passed and we just put her back to bed each time. I remember also reminding her at bedtime to not get up. When she didnt we rewarded her with a sticker or some point system. Good luck. Being tired is never fun.

I would drop the nap or push it to an earlier time. My son dropped his nap at 2 yrs, 4 months, and as much as I hated it, he slept so much better at night. He is now 3 1/2 and is in bed by 8:30 and wakes about 7:30. Good Luck! As soon as you get this one figured out, a new challenge will pop up!

Could she be getting up when she pees at night? Some kids wake when that happens, and with her newfound freedom, she might now come get you after she wakes up.

If you are not potty-learning yet maybe you could try limiting food/drink for a couple hours before bedtime and see if that helps.

Things to try:
-make sure she's good & tired when you put her to bed! Lots of acitivity
during the day.
-Try cutting down to 1 nap.
-Make sure you're not putting her down to bed too early, Try adjusting the
time a half hour back. So instead of 8pm, let's say, try 8:30pm.
-Try putting her to bed, then sitting in the near the bed until she's sleepy. (I know this sounds like work but it's not a long stage. A few nanny shows
have highlighted this method. You don't talk her, you just sit quietly so she
knows you're there. Then you edge out & away. Each night (just takes a
few nights) you can edge farther away from her bed until you are sitting outside her open bedroom door.). Like I said, seems daunting but it works. It's only a few nights.
-Try putting a nightlight in her room.
-Create a bedtime routine so she knows you're "winding down".
-So cut out one nap, later to bed, more exercise during the bed.

It's just a period you have to live through unfortunately. My daughter transitioned to a bed at 18 mos after she literally chewed her crib up. She got out of bed and came into our room a couple of times a night for a few weeks but eventually, she learned to stay in her bed. I know this is probably not the solution you were hoping for, but this too will pass. Just keep doing what you are doing!

You mention naps. As in more than one. If you are doing two, go to one. That might help. Otherwise I agree with trying the Supernanny approach.

A mat on the floor - sounds like she would be moving into your room. And that she gets her way. If that's not what you want, you'll have to be firm.

Good luck!

If my 2 YO naps, she is up a lot and never tired at bedtime at 8.

If she does not nap, she goes to bed at 8 and sleeps well.