Non Sleeping 2 Yr Old

This is going to sound mean..... I had the same type of issue and it was the only thing that worked.

Put her in her room at say 9pm (or what ever bed time you pick) and do not go in until morning. Let her cry. She is safe she doesn't need to be changed, she doesn't need to be fed, she needs to sleep and put herself back to sleep. It took 3 nights and I had to sleep on the other side of the house. My pediatrician said this was ok and Sophie wouldn't be damaged and she wasn't. You can get safety things for the door knob so she can not get out of her room. So basically say goodnight see you in the morning and stick to it.

Good Luck

Honestly I think 9 or 10pm is way too late for her to be going to bed. Try adjusting her bedtime to an earlier time...possibly 7:30 or 8pm. It sounds as though she is not getting enough sleep. It may take a while, but give it a shot. My daughter is 3yr and she goes to bed at 8:30.

Good luck~~~

We kind of been having the same problem, but my 2 yr old wakes up at 2am and wants to watch a movie. I don't get her up, I usually let her talk and she goes back to sleep. She's not crying, she is not hurt. My hubby caves and goes and picks her up and then complaines in the morning how tired he is, lol, I keep telling him he needs to show some tough love.
My advice is try to change her sleep patterns and struggle thru it but stay firm. Wake her up at 7am no matter what time she went to bed or how little sleep she got, then put her to nap between 11-noon after lunch. Then put her to bed at 8-9pm. She will be so tired and eventually she will now thats sleep time, no matter what she wants to do.
Routines are so important, I learned this with three kids of my own. It's a struggle to start one but if you follow thru, it will work and it will be so nice for the both of you.
We also do snack time at night, after bath time, then brush your teeth, clean up rooms and read a story, then bedtime. The kids know the routine and follow thru with it.

The only thing I can suggest is try putting her to bed earlier. We recently switched my nearly 2 year old's bedtime back from 8 to 7 and he sleeps much better. I have read a bunch of books and most of them say that earlier is better for toddlers, as early as 6:30 was recommended in one of the books I read! That's a bit too early for me, but we are having good luck with 7. He sleeps till about 6:30 or so most days, then takes a 1.5 to 2 hour nap. Kids this age are supposed to get about 11 hours at night and 1-2 hours during the day.

The book I like best is Elizabeth Pantly (sp?) "The No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers".

Good luck!

My 2yrs old daughter does almost the same thing. It tiring huh!?! My daughter takes a nap for 1 1/2 hr during the say, she wakes up no later than 2:30 from her nap. Then I'll put her to bed for the night arounf 9-9:30 in her own toddler bed, which is right next to ours. She wakes up at around 3am and just starts crying for no reason. I waked up and put her in the bed with us, and most of the time she'll fall back to sleep, but thats only when daddy is there. She is such a daddy's girl,its crazy and i'm even a bit jealous. ITs very bad when her and I go out of town to visit my parents without her dad. She is up all night long. I cant get her to stop crying, I eventually end up walking around the house with her, putting on the tv, patting her back, just everything. Nothing works. I wish I had advice for you, i probably need some myself. I'va asked doctors, but all they say is, "Well thats just how she is and shes gonna have to grow out of it at her own pace." It was disappointing hearing that. I'm tired everyday, all day. I work outside the house, so I dont get any rest ever! I'll for sure never have anymore kids. I love em', but if all of my kids I'll ever have sleep like this, I jsut can't do it! Good Luck!

Hi T.,

I have an almost 2 year old as well. I must say i have to agree with what a lot of moms said. She is probably over tired. We have a pretty strict bedtime ritual and it works awesome. We get our daugter ready for bed starting around 6:20. I know this sounds crazy but it isn't. We get PJs on and that means bedtime follows right after. We read several books which is a good little bonding one on one time with each of her parents (we take turns every other night). We also sing or hum and snuggle after the lights are out. Then we lay her down awaks sometime before 7 and she goes out pretty quick. Now if we start getting ready for bed at 7:30 instead she will not go down eay and need to be laid back down several times before she will quiet down. If your child is over tired they will get adrenalin(sp?) boosts and that will make it near impossible for them to quiet down.

I know 6:30 is really early but if you take the time to get into a good routine you will be so glad you did it. Sometimes we get ready for bed right after dinner and she never complaines. She sleeps through the night until 7 or 8 and takes naps that are 1hr 30 mins long....I swear you could set a timer by her naps...lol

Good luck I know this can be a huge struggle!!!
~A.

ps I would also do a door safty lock thing so she can't just get up and get out. We also let our daugter cry a little sometimes but I am less and less attentive and interesting each time I have to go in and lay her back down but that generally only happens if we get to bed late!

I would mention this to your pediatrician. I know of a little girl that had a medical disorder and didnot sleep. She maybe slept a few hours and was up the rest of the time usually getting into stuff and her mom was going nuts because she wasn't sleeping because of this either.

Hi T.
I have a now three year old who also struggled to go to sleep at night. At this age they need 12 hours in a 24 hour period. It all depends on how it fits with your family schedule as to when she sleeps. What is now working for us is not to let him sleep during the day and then we put him to bed at 6:30pm. It has made it difficult to do things in the afternoon as he does fall asleep in the car but I'm sure this will get better. He goes straight to sleep and usually sleeps for 12 hours. I read Sleepless in America by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka which gave me some ideas.
Good luck I know how important sleep is for all the family.
A.

Hi T..
Do both your children sleep in the same room? Does your 7 month old sleep thru the night? Maybe this is a way for your 2 yr old to get more of your attention. What happens if you just let your child cry it out.... I know it will break your heart to hear the crying.. but maybe it would help. I know we moved our children's bedtime up to 8. The first week was hard but now its easy. My oldest cried the first night (he was 3) but now he reminds me that it is getting close to bedtime if I haven't started getting them ready for bed by 7:50. Good luck!

i hope im not cruel but my son stayed in the crib until he was 3. he loved his crib and i wasn't ready for the chasing.

keep in mind the question: do you use the bedroom for a place of discipline? maybe if you do the child feels they are notty.

Lack of sleep is the hardest thing I've ever delt with! I found the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth very helpful. It doesn't have all the answers, but I found it to be a good resource. According to the book, it would be recommended that you try to put your child to bed earlier. By 9-10pm, she might be overtired and not able to wind down. Good luck.

This may be a silly question but does she still take a bottle to bed with her or a sippy cup?

First I would put her to sleep much earlier, she is probably not sleeping well because she is way overtired. I know it doesn't seem to make sense but it's true. You need to read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weisbluth. It is a realistic approach to getting your kids to sleep and has advice for all ages. I know everyone has a book that they swear by, but I really believe this one is the best. He even talks about all the other sleep books out there. He even says, that all of the sleep solutions out there will work you just have to be consistent. If you read it now, you can get your 7 month old on a good sleep schedule and avoid future conflicts. I have recommended this book to all my friends, many who have had great difficulty with their kids sleeping and it's worked for everyone. You can read more reviews on Amazon.com.

PS the woman who wrote the no cry sleep solution is not a doctor and hasn't even done research besides what she did with her kids!

good luck, and sweet dreams!

It may take a while to adjust her schedule but she should be getting up at between 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. Napping between 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. and going to bed sometime between 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. She should be getting 12 - 14 hours of sleep each day. She's likely overtired which makes it really tough for them to get to sleep.

I also think you should take her into her pediatrician and rule out anything medical. My son had reflux (even at 2 yrs of age) and needed medicine to relieve that burning in his throat when he was laying flat. Once we had that under control he became a much better sleeper (when he wasn't teething, that is -- there's always something!)

Get a clear bill of health from your doctor and see what he/she suggests for nap & bed times. What I've indicated in my first paragraph is a "typical" routine for a 2 year old. Every kid and family is a little different.

I think it would help us if you gave more background. Is this a change for her? What do you mean by "fight" with her? Does she take naps? What time? How long? When does she wake up for good in the morning?
Each child is different. My almost 2 year old doesn't really fight going to sleep, but he still wakes 1-2 times a night. We still "rock" him at night before bedtime and I still nurse him when he wakes. It is all habit for him and we haven't done anything to break it. :] He takes a nap around 1-2:00 and for about an hour. Goes to sleep at 9:30 -10 and wakes at 7-8.
We did the same with my 3 year old, just moved on to letting her try to fall asleep on her own earlier. She went through a phase like your daughter. I gave up on the fight to get her to sleep. Then she finally started going to bed on her own without a fight, but she still stays up as late as she can. The fighting just prolonged it before though.

ETA: Since day one, my son has never needed as much sleep as is recommended.

T.-

I'm wondering how much sleep she is getting during the day. If she takes normal naps during the day (1-2 naps for a total of 3-4 hours), she should be ready for bed by 9 or 10 PM. If she is getting more than 3-4 hrs of sleep during nap time, she might not be tired. However, if naps are normal, then I would most definitely speak to her Dr. She might be having night terrors, which my daughter had. She went through this for about six months. We decided upon a family bed. We put our full size mattress on the floor with no box spring. This way, when the kids got up in the middle of the night, they could come into mom and dad's bed and we would not have to do anything except roll over to make some space. This will only work if you and your husband agree to this. Once the kids got a little older (around the age of 3-3 1/2), we said enough, time to sleep in your own bed and made a big deal out of how the room was decorated and let them pick out their bedding. I'm not sure what else to tell you, but I feel for you and your husband. I'm sure with your daughter not getting much sleep at night, neither are you and your husband. Good luck.

Does she take a nap during the day? She might be really tired at night and that may be why she if fighting you at night.

My 2yr old son takes a late nap between 4-4:30 pm and I usually let him sleep until 7 the latest. He eats and then I put him back down between 9-10 rather he likes it or not- not much of a fight though. He does however wakes up once or twice a night for juice. I get it and then he's off back to sleep again.

Sorry back to you, I would suggest if she doesn't take day naps try to get her down to sleep even if it's only for an hour are two. And if she has a problem going down for a nap take her for a walk or drive until she fall asleep.

Hope this helps good luck.

T. D.