Toddler sleeping tips

**Bubbles10** · 08-03-2012 09:45

I am in a similar position as the OP, except it usually stretches out to 10pm before DD finally crashes.

It is slightly better to get her to sleep on days when she doesn't have a day sleep, but she is a cranky pants so i don't know if i want to take that away on days when she does go down to sleep. (some days she just won't go down).

i don't have any magic tricks yet, but i am reading the 'no cry sleep solution for toddlers and preschoolers'. will let you know if i come up with anything clever!

**jfblady72** · 08-03-2012 10:16

same here as OP...our 22 month old DS takes sometimes 40 mins now to go to sleep at night (not as bad as some) but im OVER IT!!! he will pull his sleeping off, cry, run around the cot etc...........being 32 wks pg i dont want to have to spend this time getting him to sleep when baby arrives (not to mention im missing out on MKR every night!!!!) ...we have a routine but this includes a bottle to wind down with in the dark b4 we put him into bed.....which we keep saying we will get rid off but seeing as its hard to get him to sleep even with it we keep delaying getting rid of this....

if he is tired ie hasnt had much of a day sleep or had that sleep early aka woke up around midday from a nap, he will go to sleep easy so i aslo wonder if its the change in the need of day sleep or the timing of the day sleep....my other "option" is to try to run him raggard if he wakes late to tire him out....we have followed a program called "sleepandsettle" but u need to stick to it closely for it to work....this involved just resettling at regular intervals shh shh ing until child goes to sleep, keeping the resettles very very brief etc ..altho there is whole "program" that is suggested the child follow during the day etc....i fidn whats hard is the change in care givers and routines for us..he goes to grandparents 2 days then day care 2 days so everyone has a different routine etc....makes it hard.

**HELPihavea2yrold!** · 08-03-2012 10:40

Subscribing. My 27 month old is taking 3 hours at the moment to go to sleep and I must cuddle him the whole time.

**Jackinabox** · 08-03-2012 12:57

I'm subscribing too! My 2yo DS takes an hour every night to get to sleep. On the last 3 nights I have stopped him coming into our bed and that seems to be helping. The last 2 nights have taken 30 mins. It has also been helped by him not sleeping in as late and waking more at night while working on him sleeping through! Sounds backwards but it has worked before! 😳

Sorry if I did a double post! Wrote one out and it disappeared when I tried to send it!

**sajimum** · 10-03-2012 12:39

Well it certainly looks like I am not alone in regards to having a toddler that doesn't like to go to sleep......that makes me feel somewhat better,though I feel bad that others are having the same frustrations as us. And for those whose toddlers take up to three hours (or 10pm) to get to sleep, I don't know how you do it!

The last few days at our house have been a little out of the ordinary as DD has picked up some sort of virus on top of 3 molars coming through

Poor thing is miserable, but her fever means she is sleeping well which she definitely needs (and I am enjoying).

jfblady - your little one sounds like mine....I have given up on having a sleeping bag on her (we put it on later in the night once she is asleep) or blankets in bed while she is going to sleep as it's just one other thing to play with! We also have issues with inconsistencies between home and daycare, as they seem to put the kids down to sleep pretty early at daycare (about 11.30am) and there's no way DD is ready for sleep at that time.

babylove - thanks for posting that suggestion. The part I will have trouble with is "put baby to bed when she is drowsy"......if DD is up, she is go go go. It seems to require us to put her in her cot for her to actually wind down. Might suggest the technique to DH anyway and see what he says - particularly if you have had success with it!

decemberbubba - I think your suggestion about a different bedtime pattern is going to be the first change we try once DD is feeling better! At the moment we do bath, then teeth/get dressed, play/puzzles/books in her room, then bed. I think we might try dinner, play, teeth, bath, PJs on (in bathroom), then into her bedroom for 2-3 books and cuddles for 5 mins then into her cot. I am hoping that only going into her bedroom in time for books and cuddles will reduce the hyper behaviour a little. I am also thinking of finding a piece of nice music that runs for 5 mins or so that we can play while we are cuddling. That way, once it's finished she knows it's time to get in her cot and (hopefully) go to sleep.

If that doesn't work in a couple of weeks then might try kissing/patting game.

I will keep this updated with our progress - if anyone else has more tips/suggestions/updates of their progress that would be great!

**duckduckgoose** · 30-06-2012 17:17

Just came across this thread, having same issues with 17mo DS. Just wondering how everyone is going - any progress?

**sajimum** · 03-07-2012 12:42

Thanks for the reminder about this thread duckduckgoose (did you just change your username?!?!?). We have had some "progress" I think. Well, we are no longer having the go to sleep problems, but are having "waking during the night" problems instead!!!

DD is now 26mths. She no longer sleeps if home with me (5 days a week), but has a brief nap at daycare. What ended up working for us was actually pushing her bedtime back 45mins or so if she had napped during the day. So, instead of fighting for at least an hour to get her to sleep she would fall asleep pretty quickly. Obviously she still wasn't getting the amount of sleep I thought she needed, but at least it took away the bedtime battles somewhat. Now that she's not napping most days, she goes to bed at 6.30pm-6.45pm and is asleep within minutes

Problem is, that instead of sleeping through she is now waking at least once or twice. Seems like one problem has been replaced with another

She also won't let me DH settle her during the night, which is a big strain on me as I am pregnant and exhausted from chasing her around all day!!

I realise that pushing bedtime back/dropping naps won't work for everyone, and it certainly hasn't solved our sleeping problems completely, but it does make for a less stressful bedtime in our house.

If anyone has tips for night waking of toddlers, that's my next issue to tackle!!

**decemberbubba** · 03-07-2012 17:21

Hi duckduckgoose, we have had some success too. I think moving playtime to after dinner, then bath just before bed made a big difference (instead of dinner, bath, play, bed). DS has also decided to cut his day nap from 1.5hrs to about 45 mins. He usually goes down mid morning (rises very early) so there is a big stretch of time between his nap and bed. He goes to bed at 6-6:30 and only takes a few minutes to get off to sleep now (trying to get him down for a day sleep is a different story though!!).