OT- Help with getting my 2.5 year old to sleep

[rbork]

Be consistent and strong OP.
Glad it went well, it will take some time to get the new routine down but pick a plan and stick to it.
Parenting is so hard sometimes.
Good Luck.


ps. I'd get earplugs and a stronger gate too

 

[emmababy]

Be consistent and strong OP.
Glad it went well, it will take some time to get the new routine down but pick a plan and stick to it.
Parenting is so hard sometimes.
Good Luck.


ps. I'd get earplugs and a stronger gate too

Thanks! Last night she only got up three times!
And my 7 month old only got up once! It is hard when I am dealing with separate sleep issues with both of them!

 

[princessmom29]

Wow, thanks for all the great responses. I have no idea how to do the multi-quote thing, so I will just do a general response.

I did the supernanny thing last night. I laid her down and she was up before I left the room. I didn't talk to her or even make eye contact with her. It took about 15 minutes and she stayed in bed. She tried to play games, shutting the door on me, throwing her nuk in the hallway, but I gave her no reaction.

To those who say just let her play...She isn't wanting to play. If I don't go up to her, she will scream or push the gate down.....

I thought last night was a marked improvement, so keep your fingers crossed!

Good for you!!!! Just keep at it. No reaction at all in the key here. This is one battle of will s that you have to win to get any peace at all. You are donig what is best for you child by providing a consistent routine. I know it is not easy but good for you for sticking it out!!

 

[sparty7798]

Hi,
I have first hand experience at how difficult this problem is as our 2 year old son as never been a good sleeper. He has been out of the crib since 1 and a half and sleeping in his own bed, but for a long time we had to be in the room until he fell asleep. Now you can imagine this got old for us after a while. So, we went to the process of giving him his bath, getting him dressed, reading to him and then putting him down. For about a week, he cried, clung to us for dear life and ran to the gate, but we did not go back in the room and he increasingly got better. We did the nanny thing where you increase leaving the room before we just left him in there.

Now, he goes to bed fine. Sleeps all night and calls for us in the morning and we go get him. It is so awesome and we now remark about how easier the whole process could have been if we did that the 1st time.

We also still have a gate, just so he does not wander around the house.

Good Luck!

 

[lilybrooke14]

Bungee cords?

I can't say I have any advice, as we're going through the same thing here. DD will be three tomorrow. Some nights she goes right to sleep, some nights it's up and down for hours. She's learned how to stall too. "I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, my leg hurts, I have to potty..." Blah blah blah. Some nights I want to crawl up onto the roof and jump off. But it's only a two story building, so I'd just hurt myself anyway.

Good luck!

 

[emmababy]

Tonight she took about 20 minutes but is now in bed!

 

[jjhardy]

Yeah! Hang in there! She'll understand eventually

 

[emmababy]

Ok, so last night took forever. I put her down around 7:50 and it wasn't until a little after 9:00 that she stayed in. She said she was hungry, and I couldn't ignore that, so I let her have a banana. I didn't talk to her at all. Then a little later she said she had to potty. She did go #2, and I didn't talk to her. After that, she stayed in bed all night and actually slept till 8:00, which is a record! Too bad, my ds got up at 3:00 and 6:30!

 

[rbork]

Your doing it! Be strong and consistent.
Make sure she's had her evening snack or late dinner and then you won't have to worry about responding to that because you know she's had something. If she knows she won't be able to get a snack after bedtime, she will eat it at the appropriate snack or dinner time, which is earlier. Yeah, can't do anything about the potty yet.
Your doing great and I swear you'll eventually get 8 hours of sleep again yourself in a few years or decade.
Good Luck and Do what's right for you.

 

[emmababy]

Your doing it! Be strong and consistent.
Make sure she's had her evening snack or late dinner and then you won't have to worry about responding to that because you know she's had something. If she knows she won't be able to get a snack after bedtime, she will eat it at the appropriate snack or dinner time, which is earlier. Yeah, can't do anything about the potty yet.
Your doing great and I swear you'll eventually get 8 hours of sleep again yourself in a few years or decade.
Good Luck and Do what's right for you.

Thanks for the support!Yesterday, she was a little of schedule, we were up visiting my sister, so by the time we got home, she wasnt hungry for dinner. So, hopefully she doesn't try to repeat! Lol about the sleeping in a few years or decade!

 

[Picabo]

I could have written that post! We moved DD into a toddler bed when she was 15 mos old b/c A) she was climbing out of the crib and B) her little sister was due in 2 mos and we wanted to use the crib. She did great the first few months but once #2 came along, she refused to go to bed on her own. (Oh and we had a gate at the door as well)

I hate to say it but she still refuses to go to sleep on her own and she just turned 3. Now I will say that she falls asleep in about 5 minutes flat but I do have to sit in there with her. I've tried supernanny method and it just didn't work for her and ended up taking 1-2 hrs a night for months before I finally gave up and found it faster just to sit with her 5 min till she fell asleep. Once she is asleep, if she wakes up at night she will usually go back to sleep o nher own.

If you can tolerate it, I'd say let her cry it out. We couldn't do that b/c the younger one would wake up every time she started screaming/crying but I think if your little one is able to sleep through it, crying it out might be the only way to "train" her to stay in there on her own.

Good luck! I know it's frustrating!