help me put my daughter 2 sleep at night

Roberta - posted on 10/11/2009

oh you poor mama, I can sympathize! My daughter is 20 months old, and in the last few months has done the same thing. I have found that I had to establish a strict schedule and stick to it and not let life get in the way - not easy, as i am 7 months pregnant and tired and lacking patience sometimes. I keep reminding myself the payoff in the end will be worth it with the new baby...

So the first thing I started doing (and is not easy) is to wake her up earlier in the mornings - start in 15 or 20 or 30 minute incriments, whatever works for you. As I said, being pregnant and tired, this will not be easy, but I found it necessary to make the rest of the day go better. So wake her up early, my daughter wakes up grumpy and mad if you get her up, but this method did work for us... I wake my daughter between 730 and 8 am. Give your daughter her nap time, as she needs it, and keep it the exact same time every day, to condition her body to get used to it. My daughter will sleep at 1pm anywhere from 1/2 to 1 and 1/2 hours for nap time, and that's as long as I let it go. I keep the afternoon flexible, but supper and nighttime routine are not flexible. We eat no later than 6pm and then playtime, she has bath by 7 pm with her routine kept the same - bubble bath, brush teeth, lotion and hair conditioner, diaper and jammies. Story time and then milk and bedtime. I also use a miniphoto album with pictures of all these activities, so we can look at it anytime, and the pictures show her this routine of her doing these things before bed - to reinforce the schedule of events. Bedtime is always between 730 to 8 pm. If my daughter isn't very tired today, I remember to limit naptime the next day to less than she napped today. For example if my daughter napped 1 hour and 1/2 today and she had a hard time going to sleep tonight, I would limit her nap tomorrow to 1 hour.

Anyways I hope this helps, you basically have to train your daughter's body to get used to the same times every day for certain things - like waking up, napping and going to bed.

Good luck;)

Sarah - posted on 10/11/2009

Wow! My daughter is also 2 years old and does the same thing. I talked to her doctor about it. So what I have learned is that at 2 years is when being stubborn sets in. Then to top it off, my daughter now recognizes that she would rather stay up and play instead of going to bed. Make sure you watch her closely and put her to sleep AS SOON AS she seems tired. The longer she's awake, the harder it is to get her to bed. If possible, make sure about 30 minutes before you want her to go to bed, you turn down the TV and make things quiet. Tell her its "quiet time". Read a book with her, or whatever you can think of as long as it is a relaxing and calming activity. When getting her up in the morning, try to get her up at the same time every day. My daughter is going through the same thing and is also not sleeping great hours. GOOD LUCK!! It does get better as long as you are consistent with the bedtime routines and morning routines. FYI: my daughter likes to "help" with going to bed. I'll ask her to help me brush my teeth and get me the toothpaste. She will then help me pick out pajamas. Of course, the end result is that she also will brush her teeth and put PJ's on. We will then go to bed. I will lay there until she is asleep and then get back up to finish my nightly routine. Just some thoughts.

Megan - posted on 10/08/2009

This one is difficult because she is getting about 10 hours of sleep. What time do you normally wake up in the morning? If its with her all I can recommend is to go to bed with her. Otherwise cut her nap in half so maybe she will go to bed earlier just not too early?