Way past his bedtime! HELP

Sonia - posted on 03/25/2010

i agree with a lot of the suggestions already made,as long as u know there is no reason,nothing wrong with him,leave him to cry for as long as it takes&he isnt getting too distressed,but if u do go in to see to him make sure u dont say nothing more than its sleep time,night night,see u in the morning,or whatever u tell him when u put him down to bed,no eye contact,no cuddles,just the absolute basic verbal&physical contact,keep doing it even if it does mean uve been in to him 20 times,he will get used to it,but u must persevere,dont break otherwise he will know that mummy will give in&will use it to his advantage,sounds cruel but it works,had to do it with my son,luckily only took a few nights,but keep it up!! good luck!x

C.J. - posted on 03/25/2010

My little boy is two and refuses to nap (unless he goes and lays down by himself). Which, okay... I lay him down for some quiet time (on the couch, a little tv). I don't push the issue. I make sure he eats really well at dinner. And then, coat his stomach with a glass of milk too. I put up baby gates and if he cries... he cries. He knows that is not going to work with me (he can fuss all he wants, its not going to change the outcome). He has his night lights and blankets. Its only a quarter to nine and all the kids are tucked in. I have four children. Ages 9, 4, 2, and 3 months. The only child I'm up with in the middle of the night, is the baby.
Routine is very good. Staying Firm and using those Baby Gates is key. Your need your personal quiet time too. Good luck ♥.

Carmen - posted on 03/25/2010

Hi, I'm a recent Grandma and my granddaughter who is now 3 yrs old was the same way. I noticed that when their routine is broken even once, she will hold on to that for a while. She will do everything in her power to keep the routine broken. I have always been told if a child takes a nap past 3 pm they will not be ready for sleep until way after 11 pm. So I tested that a lot. I then would play with her until about 8 pm so she would wind down on her own, then she would fall asleep. She really liked her routine, I believe that was the problem. Good Luck!!

Jackie - posted on 03/25/2010

Someone mentioned dark room too...def. make sure you have them in a bedtime atmosphere. If for some reason my daughter does get up at nite, we never turn the lights on, we don't talk anymore than we have to, she doesn't get any toys or get to get down and play. She doesn't leave her room. She can sit on my lap or go back to bed, those are her options once its bedtime.

Lea - posted on 03/25/2010

I would turn the lights down and read a book in his bed with him and when it is over tell him goodnight and leave. If he wakes up and won't go back to sleep, lay him down again say goodnight and leave. You might have to do this a few times. I used to give my son a tap on the butt after I had warned him once and now he knows I'm serious when I say its bed time and he doesn't misbehave.

Pam - posted on 03/24/2010

HEY WHENN HE GETS TIRED HE WILL SLEEP i HAVE A 18 YEAR OLD AND 3 YEAR OLD AND i NEVER HAD BED TIMES FOR THEM .

Teresa - posted on 03/24/2010

No solution for you. I am in the same boat with my 22 month old son. When i do get him to sleep it is vcery late and he wakes up constantly which leads to both of us on the couch all night. Sorry, just know u r not the only one.

Maya - posted on 03/24/2010

well if you figure out a good solution let me know because my 2.5y likes to stay up too...except she stays up past midnight!

Anabella - posted on 03/24/2010

I'm having the SAME problem haha. For the past 2 nights... it's torture! Especially because I get up for work at 5:50am :/ my boyfriend wakes up at 3:45am for work. I also tried Motrin but nothing. We will see how things go tonight...!

Tatiana - posted on 03/24/2010

Hi Kristina you got lots of great advice from everyone i also think darker room, lots of moving around all day we got Anastasia a trike with long handle and trampoline and going for awalk befor the bed time good luck i am sure he will get back on truck

Sarah - posted on 03/24/2010

thanks for the reply. I don't know if roaming around the room will help because that's my problem now. both my children are able to get out of bed and they do on a regular basis. they manipulate us into thinking it's "potty" issue but keriah will have already pottied in her pull up. At this stage i wish i had the cribs back because they would be forced to lay down and go to sleep!

Jody - posted on 03/24/2010

My daughter is 23 months and has been doing the same thing lately..It is driving me crazy we have treid it all and nothing has helped.She is so tired but just keeps fighting sleep. She has even decided to do away with her naps.. I got her up this morning at 6am as she usually sleeps till 7:30, She has already napped so fingers crossed she'll have her bath tonight and go to sleep by 9.. I feel your pain, we are just trying to deal; with it one step at a time. We are thinking of getting her into her big girl bed, maybe if she can roam around her room it might make it a bit easier.. Good luck hon :)

Jackie - posted on 03/24/2010

On the time change give him like 4ish days or so where you adjust the bedtime by half hour closer to his usual time. Def. dont want him napping too late in the day if it affects him. And this sounds crazy...but maybe he needs to go to bed earlier. My friend ran into this with her daughter, it would take 2 hrs to put her to bed at 8pm. They started putting her down at 6pm and it turned into a 5 minute process. When kids get overtired they can have a very hard time winding down.

Sarah - posted on 03/24/2010

ok i've been reading all the suggestions. I have the same problem with my two. They both share the same room. We have quiet time from 730-800 then we read a story. My daughter will then get up and say she has to potty which we take her because we do not want to deny her that which then my son is now starting to use the same thing. he is usually asleep around 900 but she is away til 1030 or 1130 at night. It's gotten worse since the time change. she dosen't want music. I've tried the crossing arms and telling her to lay down, I didn't try the time out because it's just another reason to get out of bed. so i'm suffering along with you. i want help thinking about calling Super Nanny.

Alicia - posted on 03/24/2010

it could be the reason he wide awake is that since the time change his body just having gotting use to the time change all i can say is try singing him lulbayes or read him some stories maybe that will help put him to sleep and Good luck

Zoe - posted on 03/24/2010

my son has always been a good sleeper, (not boasting, me and my partner love our sleep too) but he sometimes has his moments when he wasnt sleeping like your son, but i realised its when he doesnt have a nap or long enough nap, sounds funny to everyone else, everyone says take away the nap and he'll sleep but its not always true and not the case with my son. as long as he has his at least 2 hour nap during the day then he'll happily run to his room ready for bed and sleep all night, reason being without the nap he gets over tired. hope this helps x

Melissa - posted on 03/23/2010

We just had the same problem.....Its getting better, still fights sleep sometimes. What I found out is that he was afraid of the dark. He always had a crib "nightlight" but that didn't seem to be enough. We got him a actual nightlight and we leave the door open for him. He likes to hear us out and about around the house. Hopefully this helps for you.

Susanna - posted on 03/23/2010

Shortening nap time def. helped my son. Then he stopped napping altogether, this really helped with going to bed at a decent time.

Jennifer - posted on 03/23/2010

How old is he? Maybe he is at a stage where his naps need to be shortened. This happened to me and that's when I took my son from 2 naps to only one nap during the day. He may also be feeling some separation anxiety which is common at night. Try some new night lights and soft music when you put him to bed. You can also read some books and rock him for a while to help calm him down and get him sleepy. Good luck.

Louise - posted on 03/23/2010

Hi,
I am a mum to three kids of different ages 18, 16 and 16 months. My 16 year old also went through this at 18 months old and I found if I did not give him any attention after I said it was bed time he got very bored with mummy coming in no eye contact no speach just lay him down and leave that he gave up. This I did for about three nights. Children can pick up on body language very well and if he can sence that it is getting a reaction from you it will encourage him to do it again and again. Try the tough love approach it's difficult to do but I promise you it works.

Jodie - posted on 03/22/2010

i was having the same problem with my little girl she will be 2 next month and i was at my wits end as she wouldnt go to slepp till 10.30/11 o'clock.i would give up and let her play and then she would get over tired and stay awake cranky for hours. i started laying down with her at 7.30 reading a book and then saying it was sleep time and if she didnt lay down and close her eyes i would put her in time out for 2 mins. and keep repeating it till she layed down and went to sleep.she no longer is allowed to get up and play once i say its bedtime. ive been doing this for about 3 weeks now and she is asleep nearly every night by 8 oclock. all i have to do now is tell her if she doesnt lay down and keep still she will go to time out and she quite happily lays down and falls asleep.

Suzanne - posted on 03/22/2010

tell him its bedtime and read him a book and put him to bed with some soothing music. Let him cry it out. Make sure you wake him up at a reasonable hour tomorrow and skip the nap or one of the naps so he can go to bed earlier. The time change may also be a factor. Good luck

Kristina - posted on 03/22/2010

Thanks for the ideas....It's now 11pm and he's still wide awake... I'm going crazy here. I just don't know what to do with him now!

Suzanne - posted on 03/22/2010

A number of things come to mind, that could be causing his restlessness around bedtime. Sugar intake, length and number of naps per day and quiet bed-time Routine. Maybe he is going through a growth change. change it up a little bit and be aware of sugar intake. bed-time routine with lots of books, hugs, songs and soothing music and quiet time. good luck!!

Brandi - posted on 03/22/2010

I've been having the same trouble with my 2 year old since the "spring ahead" time change. I think the longer days have him confused. I am hoping over some more time, he gets into the swing of things. He must take after his mommy. (I have a REALLY rough time with the seasonal time shifts, they mess me up for weeks). good luck.