how to get Ds to go to sleep

[lari]

Argh. It's 10:25 and yet again DS has JUST fallen asleep.  WTF.  This is getting ridiculous.  Admittedly this evening was our fault we were out to dinner and then we all went for a walk and went to the playground.  We have a great routine.  Bath brush teeth, pj's, books, and then we lay down with him for 10 or 15 minutes, then we leave.  This is where the problem begins.  His room is gated, but he usually gets out of bed and starts playing with whatever he can find in his room.  We took out most of his toys in his room ,but he still has his stuffed animals and books in there, or he'll start playing with the curtains or drawers sometimes emptying them out. Recently he's started turning on the light too.  We've tried physically putting him back in his bed frequently, but then he'll just start jumping on his bed or doing somersaults/talking to himself.  This can go on for more than an hour.  How do I get him to wind down/lay down?  Do I have to physically go in there and starting holding him down until he can stay laying down quietly in his bed on his own?  That seems really drastic, but I'm out of ideas and he can't stay up until 10PM + especially when we have to take him to daycare at 7AM.  I'm open to any suggestions. HELP

If it helps; once DS asleep he sleeps thu the whole night in his own roon in his double bed. 

Edited by lari - 5/29/11 at 8:12pm

[NZJMama]

Does he go to bed at the same time every night? I know it sounds crazy, but maybe try getting him in bed earlier and letting him do his thing in his room. If you guys aren't paying attention he may stop playing/causing trouble and just go to sleep. It will proably take several days for him to adjust to the new routine, but as long as he isn't crying and is safe, I would let him be.

[lifeguard]

We put ds down at pretty much the same time every night (we vary by about an hour right now because he is phasing out his naps so the few days he does nap he goes down a little later) & it sometimes takes 2 hours for him to fall asleep.

Honestly, as long as he is happy & not getting into trouble I just ignore it. I STRUGGLE to fall asleep at night & the pressure put on me as a child to "go to sleep now" just made it worse. It just takes me a looooong time to wind down at night & ds seems to be much the same.

The way I see it if we are following a regular schedule (same wake time, same bedtime) he will get the amount of sleep he needs - some nights that just seems to be a little bit less than other nights when he falls asleep in 5 minutes.

[bellydance2290]

I would try to put him to bed earlier, that way he can spend the same amt of time doing his playing and hopefully go to sleep earlier.