Getting toddler to sleep

[drobinson]

I'm having a hard time getting my two year old DD to go to sleep consistently at a decent time each night. She takes a nap at the same time every day and we have a pretty regular bedtime routine. Some nights are easier than others, but last night it took about an hour and a half to get her to go to sleep, so she didn't fall asleep until about 10:30 p.m. DH and I both work outside the home full time, so I don't know if DD just wants to stay awake longer to spend time with us, or if she really has trouble falling asleep (a problem DH suffers from).

Our routine consists of bath, nursing, praying, reading, and rocking to sleep to music (while I stand and hold her). Last night she wanted to nurse about three times in between various bedtime activities. At some points during our routine she would seem like she was drifting off, but would then be wide awake. The night before that, she went right to sleep. As I mentioned before, some nights are easy, and others are very difficult. Any suggestions??

[AdinaL]

I remember this being a really hard age.  It is like they suddenly get that they might miss something if they are asleep. LOL  Missing you guys during the day might be contributing to it a bit as well.

It sounds like you are doing all the things I would suggest.  Hopefully it is a phase and will pass quickly.

[To-Fu]

I think this age is a hard one for bedtime!  They are really starting to Get It and want to be a part of the world.  

For us, we have changed our bedtime a lot over the years as parts of it worked or stopped working at different times.  Have you tried switching up your routine?  For us, the two-year-old has to be sort of squished in bed between me and a pillow and nursed/snuggled to sleep with zero interaction.  Maybe cut out some of the movement/steps and just try something else to see if it works?

[drobinson]

Thanks! :)