[SAH*Dad]

Our 2.5 year old won't fall asleep at night. His afternoon naps come along easily enough - not always. But at night, he's a holy terror.<br><br>
Tonight he lay in bed for 2 hours crying before finally falling asleep at about 1:20 am. We were at the bitter end of our rope with him tonight.<br><br>
Any ideas what we can do to help him go to sleep?

 

[Kiwiontheloose]

what have you tried so far?<br><br>
could he be ill?<br><br>
what are his daytimes like?<br><br>
could he be overtired? (sleeping at 1.20am after crying for 2hrs = 11pm bedtime - could you try for an earlier one?)<br><br>
sorry only have questions - no answers!!

 

[columbusmomma]

Could his afternoon nap be too late or long in length and it's harder for him to fall asleep at night then?<br>
Do you have a routine, like snack,bath,story,etc? May help to have things "routine" and the same so he knows what to expect.<br>
Is the room dark enough, cool enough? White noise of some type could help?<br>
Does he do this consistently as far as the crying and not falling asleep for several hours?<br>
Hugs, that doesn't sound pleasant for anyone<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad">

 

[Baby_Cakes]

Rock? Sing?<br><br>
I still nurse DD down (19 mo) but I know those days are numbered. I'm not sure what I'm going to do w/her when nursing doesn't work anymore. She isn't anywhere near ready to fall asleep w/o help.

 

[ttcintexas]

Could he be outgrowing his nap? My 2.5 year old has not napped since about 2 yrs. He was getting harder to put down for his nap and then would take a long time in the evening. We dropped the nap and now he goes down in a flash at 7pm. We have some cranky afternoons, but we had those with the nap---he'd wake up and be miserable for 45 mins to an hour. Sounds like some cranky afternoon time wouldn't be worse than what you are going through now. Good luck. Sleep stuff is tough.

 

[Azik's mom]

My DS is about 2.5 years and we also struggled with this until lately. He would be up until weird hours of the night but when he slept late he would nap during the day.<br><br>
Things has changed within the past 2 months or so. One is that we are now in a more stable place. Before we were going through job transitions and moving a lot so I think this affected him. What I have done is to establish routines with him. I realised too that if he too a nap late he will not want to go to bed early. So I get things quiet just a little after lunch and that helps him to nap early. If he doesn't take a nap by 3- 3:30 I dont encourage him to nap unless I see that he is really tired. Lying down with him and hugging him helps.<br><br><br>
At about 6:45-7 I start the process of getting him to bed. The past part is giving him his bathe, brushing his teeth and reading a book. Sometimes it's later but once he sees this happening he knows it's soon bedtime. He has started resisting and depending on the time I give him the leeway of reading or playing a little more but he is not allowed to come out of his room.<br><br>
If he climbs out of his bed I go in and him and tell him that we have lots to do in the morning so he needs to sleep so that he can wake up. Sometimes this does not work and I end up lying down with him and hugging him and reading another story. Sometimes he breastfeeds, it all depends since he isn't asking as much for it these nights (I think we are nearing the end of this).<br><br>
It does take time and patience. But being consistent is the key. I dont like rigid schedules so we dont use that, but having a consistent routine helps since it signals to him that bedtime is near.<br><br>
Good luck!

 

[DBZ]

I'm here for pretty much the same reason. I feel your pain.

 

[ssh]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>SAH*Dad</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/15413875"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Our 2.5 year old won't fall asleep at night. His afternoon naps come along easily enough - not always. But at night, he's a holy terror.<br><br>
Tonight he lay in bed for 2 hours crying before finally falling asleep at about 1:20 am. We were at the bitter end of our rope with him tonight.<br><br>
Any ideas what we can do to help him go to sleep?</div>
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My DD did the same thing, not being able to go to sleep until after 1 am, right before we dropped her nap. She stopped being able to sleep unless she'd been up about 8 hours. After we dropped the nap she had a transition period where she was grumpy for about an hour in the evenings but then fell asleep really fast after being up about 11 or 12 hours. Toddlers sleep needs change as they age.<br><br>
As for how to help him sleep, well if a person is tired they sleep and if they're not tired they just don't. How many hours is between his morning waking and his nap? How many hours is between his nap and when he falls asleep?

 

[hopefulfaith]

When they were teeny, we coslept. Then, around a year, they got their own beds and we laid down with them until they fell asleep. Around 2.5 - 3 years, we lay down with them and talk/snuggle/dream/plan for a while and then give kisses and tell them we'll check on them in a little while and get up out of bed. ("If you are quiet and in bed, you can have your door open." <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> Like I wouldn't do it anyway.) Minutes later, they're asleep. However, it's been a process that's taken a few years to grow.<br><br>
We have very few nights - less than one/month - which involve anybody getting out of bed or fighting bedtime, which I think is pretty good for age 4 and 3.<br><br>
Dh and I keep our house silent until we see both kids are asleep, and then we turn on the TV/talk/whatever.<br><br>
I don't know if this is helpful to you, but it has been our experience that making bedtime a sweet, happy time where each kid gets a little 1:1 from one of us has made it so much easier and happier. If I'm by myself putting the kids down, my ds is "allowed" to read books until I'm done snuggling with his sister. He loves the privilege (which, in truth, I couldn't manage our routine without him doing this).<br><br>
Good luck. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love">