My once easy to go to bed and sleep through the night 2 1/2 yr old is no longer able to fit into this category in any stretch of the imagination. The problem started about 3 weeks ago. He caught on to my husband laying with our older son (5) at bedtime (a habit I was not happy about but was what came about and worked). So our 2 yr old wanted me to lay with him, when I would say good night -he would then cry for daddy.....and so on - this process became progressively worse. We decided it was time to try and nip this in the bud and changed the routine with our older son by slowly easing our way out of his room (end of bed, door way, hall way) - there were a couple of nights of screaming but we have been successful with our older son. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working with the 2yo. We tried the supernanny thing of just bringing him right back to his room when he came to the door, etc....would do this for an hour and he just found it funny and would giggle. I just have no idea how to break this cycle. My poor little guy isn't getting to sleep until about 10 - 10:30 most nights...he woke up today with dark circles under his eyes. He does still nap....and I really don't think ending naps is the answer for him yet. Any advice that worked for you would be GREATLY appreciated!
My DD 2 1/2 is doin gthe same thing and nothing seems to be working for me either. Please let me know if you find out anything that does help or work.
Thanks
J.
If it takes a couple of hours, you may want to start earlier than his actual bedtime. If he is supposed to be asleep by 8 and stays up until 10, you will want to start putting him to bed by at least 6:30 or so, then he will cry or whine until 8 and should fall asleep at his regular bedtime. Of course this may take a couple of nights. When he starts to fall asleep at his regular bedtime you can start putting him to bed closer to 8. Good luck and keep at it. Consistency is the key.
Both my children (now 6 and almost 3) have gone through this at some level. They both have experienced some anxiety over me leaving them to go to sleep at night. I have had success with telling them I would stay in their bedroom with them sitting in a chair as long as they remained quiet and head on the pillow. If they got up or remained active, I would get up and leave the room (or attempt it.....but they would end up changing their behavior to keep me in the room). I would sit very quietly in the chair, head just looking down (not at them in order to avoid any discussion). I found this would at least settle them down, avoiding the anxiety. I may have sat in the room with them 10-15 minutes. Then, assuming everything was all set, I would attempt to get up and leave the room. If they were not sleeping at this point, and they usually weren't, I would tell them I had to go to the bathroom and would return in a couple minutes as long as they remained settled and in bed. I would wait a couple minutes and return to sit in the room. I would then stay 5 minutes less than I did before and leave the room to do something else (they always wanted to know where I was going and what I was doing!) After doing this a couple times, they would fall off to sleep. I found I only had to do this for a couple nights before it became easier. Again, consistency is key in no matter what you choose to do!
Good luck!
Hi Riley!
So, you missed the Super Nanny episode where it took the parents SEVERAL hours to get their child to stay in the bed, huh? It's just going to take perserverance on your part and you have to keep doing it if you want to break the cycle. If he's as tired as you say he is then eventually he'll just be too tired to try and get out of bed and fall asleep on his own. You're doing all the right things....just keep at it. It will work!!
Hi - We went through something similar with our now 4 year old. Started when she was about 3 and 3/4, so I'm not sure what worked for us will work with your son, since he's quite a bit younger.
The super nanny thing of just putting her back to bed each time she popped out didn't work for us eitehr.
But, partly inspired by what others here suggested, my partner invited a "feather fairy" (my daughter has a feather pillow and likes playing with the feathers that occassionally come out). The drill was, if my daughter didn't pop out of be more than once, the feather fairy would come and leave her a penny under her pillow.
Didn't work the first night. But has almost every night since - and it's been a few weeks now.
The feather fairy will leave a note each night either way. If she does pop out more than once the FF just writes an encouraging note ("You popped up more than once last night, so no penny, but I know you can do it! I bet you will tonight. Love, the FF") And a really big congratulatory note with a penny taped to it if she does.
She's totally into it.
Other folks talked about doing a sticker chart, and this is a sort of variation.
Sticker charty for potty training did not work for my daughter - but this did.
Good luck!
You are doing an awesome job breaking bad habits, especially by getting your older son to fall asleep without anyone laying with him. Good job!! For your younger son, I would suggest doing exactly what you are doing, but add a little element of choice and control in (kids this age LOVE to feel in control - one of my girls is almost three and I can relate!!). Give him a choice between a couple of books to take to bed, and/or a couple of toys, and tell him when he wants to get up or scream he should play or read instead. If you can trust him to be neat, you might even let him draw or color in bed when he feels sad - tell him to draw you a picture. You never know - it might work. My older daughter always has a couple of books and toys with her, and she will play quietly before falling asleep and when she wakes up if I haven't gone in to get her yet. It has never been a distraction that prevents her from sleeping. Good luck, and keep up the great work!
