How Do I Keep 2 Yr Old in Bed?!?

girl just wanted to say i'm there. actual conversation between my son and me this weekend, as he's fussing and fighting and whining and wiggling around in his high chair:

son: me stuck!
me: are you done eating? want to get down?
son: NO!
(since he hasn't touched his food for several minutes and is about to go into all-out fit mode, i put him down from his chair. he promptly climbs back into it.)
son: mommy me stuuuuck!
me: son, do you need help getting down? are you finished eating?
son: NO!

my point- i know the two's. i feel for you! as far as getting out of bed, if you close the door on her (making sure her bedroom is safe for her to hang out in alone) would she eventually get back in bed? maybe she's just not ready. our basic rule is, once in bed, in bed. he may get up and wander (especially if he's not wound down and/or is mad about me putting him down) but after a few minutes of rebellion usually gets right back into his bed and goes to sleep. you've probably already tried that, sorry. i know, she's two! sorry i don't have any better advice, but good luck...

S.,
I have a little boy who is 3 1/2 and a little girl who is 2. When my son moved to a toddler bed, he went through a stage where he got out of be over and over and over. We just kept to a consistent schedule with him. Every night, it's the same routine. Bath, brush teeth, book, and 2 songs. Then it's in bed. When he got out of bed, we just put him immediately back to bed without showing him any emotion. They want to get a reaction out of you-positive or negative. It was sooooo frustrating, but it eventually worked. For a while, I was taking him on early evening walks (him literally walking-not in a stroller) just the two of us, to wear him out for bedtime. He still gets out of bed to get a book or toy once or twice before going to sleep. I, also do the baby gate. Just remember this, you decide when they go to bed, they decide when they go to sleep. hope this helps.

Good Morning S., isn't it fun with a 2 y/o :) they are precious and trying to our last nerve! Gr son age 3 has a T-shirt "Patience Tester" and he sure does.

When your little gal gets up put her back to bed, over and over if it takes that long. She will learn and it will wear your patience thin too, but it will get better.

If she gets up to come in to see you reassure her you are there and will be there in the morning also. Put her back to bed and leave. Being a new single mom will have some effect on some of her behavior also. Even little folks feel the strain, Daddy's not there will momma be there in the morning? kind of thing. Hang on Dear heart it will be OK, and you will do awesomely.

Momma's are tough, we can get through just about anything.
Best of everything to you and your little angel girl
K. nana of 5

This is a difficult age but it can be done. Remember that at 2 her idea of the world around her is very different than yours. Our daughter was moved into a toddler bed at about 18 months, it was that or risk her injuring herself as she climbed out of her crib. She would not stay in her bed and I worried about her wondering through the house at night if I did not hear her get up. I went through her room and put up anything that I thought she might get hurt on and then I placed a baby gate at her bedroom door. I did this in the morning so that she saw it was there and was used to it being there during the day. That night when we put her to bed I knew at some point she would be up. My husband and I agreed that as long as she stayed in the room we would work on staying in bed later. It had been almost 2 weeks of a struggle and we needed some sleep. So when she woke up and she came to the gate I got up and told her that she had to go back to bed, she didnt. That first night I slept in the hall out of site, but where I could hear her. She cried it out and fell asleep with her blanket in the middle of the floor. She slept there until morning. The next night she cried less and fell asleep in the floor with her pillow and blanket. The next night we did not hear her get up, when we got up she was asleep in her bed. Some nights she continued to get up, but she always went back to bed and soon she was sleeping through the night in her bed again. I hope this helps. There are no easy anwers and I know how hard it can be.

I know what you're talking about. My son is 2 1/2 y/o and won't stay the whole night in his bed. I had to get the toddler bed around when he was 18 months or so bc he wouldn't go into the crib. So even now, everynight he gets up and cries until either me or my husband gets up and he won't stop crying until he's in bed w/ us. Its partly my fault bc (my husband just came home from Iraq after being there for 15 months) since my husband was gone and I worked full time it was just easier to put my son in bed w/ me bc I was exhausted and couldn't spend all night fighting with him to stay in bed. I regret that now lol.

You may have moved her from her crib to her toddler bed too soon. I did not move my daughter, who is now 7 years old, to a toddler bed until she was 2 1/2 years old. She is, of course, in a real size bed now. We moved her to her double bed when she was 4 years old. We never had a problme with her getting out of her toddler bed once she was in. My son will be 2 1/2 at the end of September. We just ordered his toddler bed and it should be in this week. I did not feel he was ready for a toddler bed until now.