How do I get a toddler to sleep before 11pm? - Page 2

[MsDolphin]

I too have a night-owl. 23mon DS goes to sleep at 11pm, which is so hard on me, since I still have to get up for work in the mornings.

I think part of our challenge is, DS sleeps in until he wake up around 8-9am. He does nap well, normally 2-3 hours in the afternoon.

I just started trying to get him on a set routine - slowing moving the time, the last few nights I managed to get him to sleep around 1030pm. It's progress. I hope to get him to a night bedtime of 900 or 930pm.

Good luck!

[sk8boarder15]

My son is also 23 months and we are having the same issue. If we let him sleep when he wants its 11pm-9am and 2-4:30. I'm trying hard to move the nap back but having a hard time as he won't go to sleep for me excpet in the car. Unfornunatly we aren't nursing anymore and he has no binky/bottle or any other comfort item besides me.. :/ 

Our routine has fallen apart since we moved and he started showering with me instead of taking baths at night. Maybe I can get DH on board to do stories and put him to bed earlier. He goes to bed MUCH better for DH than me, though with some protest. Its just hard to do anything during the day when we are eating breakfast at 10am. 

[rdehoff-us]

My son slept really well all through the night at four months then we started having issues again when he was older. I found limiting the nap time to less than two hours helps tremendously because he is more tired by bed time. The amount of fresh air he got romping around in the yard is also helpful in wearing him out and good for him anyway. Nevertheless, our kid seems to do the best with routine. If I put him to bed every night at 9pm with few rare exceptions he does much better than if I get lazy and let him stay up more often. Every kid is different though and you'll have to find what works best for yours too. Good luck!

[sunnygir1]

I also wanted to add that with at least one of my kids we stopped doing naps, and then later started them again.  So, if you decide to cut out naps, it might help a lot, and you may find in a couple months that you will start doing naps again.

Best.
 

[gemasita]

Thanks to this thread, we got into a better routine and turn lights out and TV off way earlier than we used to and the more gradual bedtime routine is working GREAT!  We used to do it more abruptly and my son would nurse in my lap from 9-10:30 sometimes.  Now, we are slowing down by 7:30 or 8 pm at the latest and then finally nursing at 9 and it usually only takes 15 minutes of nursing. Also, outside time EVERY day (which sucks for me in the NC heat).

[Hawkhurstsouth]

Thank you ladies for all these comments... wish me luck!!!  DS, DH and I are going to TRY to sleep tonight.... Hopefully with all your tips we can make it through these next few weeks... Love to everyone, I feel better knowing I'm not the only one...

[JudiAU]

I think you should consider limiting the nap to one hour. We did this for almost a year for similar years. It helped a lot. Also, at some point, I just think if they can't nap with some ease, it it is time to let it go. Any tv should be morning only.