Toddler Has Decided Not to Sleep Anymore!

You have to take the bull by the horn. She is overtired and making you pay the price for it. Stop paying it.

Does she nap during the day? How much? If she is sleeping more than 2 hours, limit her nap time. Don't let her nap late in the afternoon. NO TV after dinner. TV revs up a kid. Make sure that she has a lot of physical exercise before dinner, and then after dinner is bathtime, brushing teeth and quiet playing in her room. Night time quiet music on the CD player, reading a night time book, nightlight turned on, and then turn off the room light. Sit in a chair in the middle of the room and close her door. Don't talk to her. Don't hold her, don't have anything to do with her. If she gets out of the bed, walk her back to the bed and then go back and sit in the chair. Ignore her cries. You are there in the room - she is trying to figure out what other lengths you will go to. Don't give in. It's IMPERATIVE that she learn to put herself to sleep.

She will finally get tired enough of this that she will fall asleep. If she falls asleep laying on the floor, that's fine (or pick her up and lay her in the bed.) Just don't talk to her at all.

She should be put into bed by 8:30. The first several nights you might have to sit in that chair for a long time. Once she gets bored with all this, she will start falling asleep earlier and earlier. Hopefully you'll only have to spend a few minutes in the cchair once she adapts to all of this.

You want to eventually remove the chair from the room, and stand in the middle of the room. And then, once everything is back to normal, kiss her goodnight and walk out of the room.

If you close the door from the beginning of your sleep training, it will be better all the way around. She'll get used to the door being closed while you are in there, so when you leave, it will be no bid deal.

Remember, NO picking her up. No talking to her. She is currently making you put her to sleep. Stop doing it and give her the GIFT of putting herself to sleep. It means letting go and dropping off instead of staying awake so that you will do it for her.

Dawn

Is she teething by any chance. Those two year molars made bedtime a nightmare with my kiddos!

Sounds like it could be an ear infection that only bothers her when she is laying down. Can you elevate the head of her bed? Or sleep in a recliner or something? Good luck!

At this point she's probably overtired and might be a challenge for another day or so.

I'm guessing she just needs you. At that age I usually rocked my kids to sleep or snuggled on the couch with them until they fell asleep. Then I carried them in to their own bed. So much easier than fighting with them, and they (6 & almost 4) both go to bed just fine now.

As I type this, it's 2:18 am and my 15 month year old is up and watching Kipper.

Molars.