Does anyone else have issues getting their little one to go to sleep? Sigh, of course you do. Things with Jude and bedtime had been going ok, but in the last two weeks it has taken a nose dive. Last night was no exception. We did our normal bedtime routine and put him in his toddler bed right on time, at 8:30. It was 10 pm before he was actually asleep. He spent the whole hour and a half screaming and crying and throwing himself to the floor and it is making us crazy. Like CRAZY. We go in and hold him, rock him, put him back in bed time and time again, try to get him to sleep on the floor, talk to him about bedtime and sleep, sing songs, let him cry, threaten and yell. Everything. Nothing works, nothing helps. We leave the door open, we close the door, we sit in the room, we leave the room, we turn on and off his night light, nothing works. And he only finally goes to sleep once totally exhausted, really not even going to sleep so much as passing out. It's ridiculous and has to stop. Oh and once he does go to sleep he is waking up at least one or two times. And then he is back up for the day between 6-7am. Naps have been hard too, but not nearly as hard as bedtime.
So our only plan today is for me to try to run him ragged all day and to try bedtime at 8pm. I'm also thinking about cutting his naps out, but dear lord I don't want to do that if I don't have to. Anyone have any advice? I'm about ready to call Nanny 911 on this!
-Liz
It seems as if he's had a lot going on in the past few months --the move, potty training, starting preschool. Do you think his difficult bedtime behaviour could be related to some of that?
ReplyDeleteThe Bean isn't great at bedtime, but we have found he is best when we stick to a VERY consistent routine --dinner, potty, bath, pjs, story, bed. At just over three he naps from about 12:00-2:30pm (when we wake him, otherwise he's sleep for another hour or more and mess up his bedtime) and goes to bed around 7:30pm until about 7:00am.
I would just stick with a very consistent bedtime routine. This way he will understand that bedtime is coming because it always happens after bath, story, cuddles. Also, he may be ready to give up one nap if he's still napping twice a day. Or maybe shorten one or both naps if that's an option. Just keep making your expectations clear that it's bedtime and he needs to be asleep. I would even have a short, consistent routine when you go into his room. Instead of trying all different things, pick one and stick with it. We have great sleepers but they definitely go through phases like this and I get so frustrated. But consistency and setting clear expectations are your best bet.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Shannon, consistency is key. If you flip flop around different things, he will keep up with the fighting bedtime. I have one kid like this and he can carry on for hours. Every kid is different but if you stick with putting him back in his room over and over with no talking to him, no lights/changes being made, he will get that you mean business.
ReplyDeleteMaybe cutting his nap entirely will help. With us this was the solution!! It's hard the first few weeks to get him through the day but in the end it was SO worth it.
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