Bad Sleeping Habits

A.,
I can certainly relate to your situation. My oldest daughter had the same sleeping routine. My youngest daughter slept much better than her and still does today. Some sleep patterns are just individual rhytms and the best thing you can do for them is make small adjustments over time with a goal of meeting somewhere between what works for her and what works for you.
That being said, there are some things you can look for and some things you can do to help make those small adjustments easier.
Keep a food chart and notice if certain foods make it less easy for your daugher to get to sleep and stay asleep. Create a bedtime ritual. It may need to be an hour-long ritual to help her wind down and get ready to sleep.
Whatever you choose, make sure it is as respectful to your daughter as possible. One day you may be grateful that she is a night-owl (like when someone is waiting up for your younger child to come home as a teenager)...
By respecting your dughter and her natural rhytms you are also modeling the respect you want from her.
One thing that worked for me when my daughters were 3 years old and 6 months old respectively, was to make my older daughter's room completely safe, and then to let her know that after a certain time, she could be awake (in her room) but she had to respect my need to sleep by staying in her room and playing quietly. I put a latch high-up in the outside and kitchen doors, so she could not get out of the house or into the kitchen....
I knew sleeping or not, she was safe.
Hope this helps,
L. G

The best book I have found for helping children sleep at any age is the No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. It truly takes a commitment but she has several ideas and helped us to get both of our children sleeping through the night in their own beds.

A.,
I would encourage you to take a look at this website: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp Dr. William Sears advocates parents doing just what you are doing - parenting their child to sleep. Every child is so different, so it isn't surprising that the baby sleeps better than the toddler. I'll bet your 2 year old is a fairly strong-willed (Dr. Sears calls them high-need) little girl. It is worth the effort it takes to create a sense of security surrounding bedtime. The trust you are building with her now is the foundation for a lifelong relationship of trust with your daughter. When she hits her teen years, you won't be worried about getting her to sleep anymore, but you will be very thankful that your nurtured a relationship of trust with her!

Hey Im not trying to sway from the question, but do you live in the richland florence area? i am looking for a good daycare that is around my house. And the ones around the house are full! Please let me know when you start up your daycare. Thanks, S.

Hi! My name is F. I have a sweet Little boy named Jonavan he's my first and I guess I need to start letting him sleep in his own bed more often than he does. But I would suggest a teddy bear the ones they have were it make a heart beat sound.

To put it plain and simple, you're going to have to get tough. Under no circumstance should you let your daughter sleep in your bed or lay down with her for that matter. That's trying to teach her something by using a double standard. It is also telling her that "well you can this during this time but you can do this during this time". She's not going to learn that way. You are going to have to make your rules either one way or the other with no in betweens. Until you do that, you will be fighting a loosing battle. Let her know that her bed is where she sleeps and the only place where she sleeps. Keep her on a tight schedule as well as this will program her internal clock on when it's time to sleep. You will have a few days of heightened behavior but she will eventually get the idea and her fits will become a thing of the past.

Hi there! I basically did the same thing as Laura, I emptied out my son's room of everything except the bed, a small table, and some stuffed animals. If he cried, I went in to check on him, but otherwise he played by himself until he went to sleep. After a couple of months of him not wanting to go to bed, he eventually got bored and realized nothing fun was going to happen in his mostly empty room, and now he goes straight to bed at 8:30 every night with no problem. He will be 3 next week.