Need Help Getting 2 Year Old Daughter to Sleep

Hi M.,
I know you are not gonna want to hear this; but I STILL have trouble getting my (almost 4 1/2) yr. old daughter to go to sleep in her room! And we have tried everything and the only thing that seems to work consistently which is not very realistic or feasible some nights is my singing to her (every night if she could) UNTIL she falls to sleep...which could be a very long time! Recently, I have been letting her go to sleep in her brother's room, but ONLY after he has already fallen asleep. Some nights, this is the only way either of us is going to get in to bed and any sleep any time soon! I also have a 4 month old that gets woken up alot too so I know how that is also. So, for what its worth, I guess this too shall pass?? Good Luck, Blessings....

I will tell you what has worked for my 3 1/2 yr old. We have put a cd player beside his bed and play a bedtime cd while he is going to sleep and that really calms him down and he goes to sleep. Find a nice soothing bedtime cd and see if that will work for her.

M.,

We've never let our daughter sleep with us because of this problem (and we're afraid she'd end up squished, since neither of us are little people LOL). However, we did have a similar issue when we transitioned her to a toddler bed a couple months ago. She would scream and cry and want us to stay in her room with her and "rocky" (we have a rocking chair in her room and always rock before laying down for bed). She could open her bedroom door too, and would come back downstairs.

First, we screwed a baby gate into her doorway, so we can leave her door open and she still can't get out. Now we don't have to worry about her waking up in the middle of the night and wandering around the house.

To get her to sleep in her new bed, for a couple nights I had to sleep on the floor next to her bed. A couple times in the night she would get up and want to lay next to me on the floor, but I'd put her back in her bed. Then we went to putting her to bed while I sat in the rocking chair in her room. She'd get up and come rock with me for a couple minutes, then I'd put her back in bed. After a little bit, I would get up and leave the room, door open but baby gate locked. She would get up and cry at the gate and get mad-- I'd let her do it for 10 minutes, then go back up, rock a little bit, back to bed, rinse, repeat LOL.

It took a while, but eventually after crying for just 5 minutes she'd go get in her bed on her own. We've started keeping a sippy cup of water at her bedside too which seems to help her some for some reason. Now (nearly 3 months later) she's gotten to the point where when I say I'm done rocking, I'll go give her a kiss and hug and leave and she doesn't cry or get out of the bed but goes to sleep.

Don't know if this is helpful or not, but that's what we've done! :) A.

Do NOT let her have a TV in her room. She needs interaction with people. Not to be zoned out in front of the TV. You started this by letting her sleep with you. Now it will be tough to send her back to her bed. It will take months of perseverance on your part but stay firm and keep reminding yourself that what the reward will be.

Can you move her bed into your room. I'm sure this is a big transition for her to have her Dad home and things are changing. I would say she just wants to be close to her Mommy. That isn't so bad. I also wouldn't let her cry it out. There are plenty of studies showing how crying it out is horrible for the emotional development of children and can make them less independant.

Here's an idea: My mom made me and my siblings a 'mommy tape', which was about an hour of her reading our favorite books and singing our favorite songs, and we would listen to that to help us go to sleep at night. I have made a 'mommy tape' for my kids to use during their quiet time(as they don't nap anymore) and it makes naptime and bedtime a lot easier for them and me!