My son will be 2 in April. He has always gone to bed without so much as even a little whimper. He would take a 2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon and go to bed around 8 or 8:30 everynight. He was always ready to go and never had any problems. Well out of the blue, he does not want to sleep. He just completely loses it when we try to put him to sleep. He has been able to get in about an hour nap in the afternoon, but now he will only sleep on the floor. Bed time has turned into 11:00 and that still is no easy task. We even went out and bought him a toddler bed, this hasn't changed the situation. Any suggestions????
Try cutting out his nap for a couple of days. And a warm soothing bath before bed always helps.
Hi K., My son went through the exact same thing. He was 2 when we moved him into a toddler bed and that's about the same time that his sleeping habits changed. He went from going to bed every night at 8pm to going to bed at midnight...everynight! It felt like he just didn't need sleep anymore.We would put him to bed and he would get up about 20 times before he finally went to sleep. After about 2-3 months of us getting less & less sleep we were desprate to try something different. So, we started putting baby gates in front of his door. It sounds mean, but the pediatrician even agreed that it was a good solution. At first my son would get so mad that he couldn't get up anymore, but eventually he learned that he needed to just fall asleep instead of fighting it. Once asleep we would take the baby gates down. It was a long process, but the terrible 2's are not easy. Trust me when I tell you that it's just a phase and it will get better. My son is turning 5 next month and goes to bed without any problems or gates. Just a suggestion, but hopefully this will help. Good Luck!
The only thing that helped my 18 month old son go to sleep was the Ferber method. He wrote a wonderful book that will explain everything you ever wanted to know and more about sleep and sleep problems. The book is "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber, M.D. It took a little time but we now are able to put him down at 9:00 and he sleeps all night and still takes a 2 hour nap in his crib. It's like a miracle.
K., my son did something similar & all it turned out to be was that he no longer needed the naps. I made him sit quietly and watch a tv program with some fruit and it turned out to be OK. He started going to bed about 9PM which was good for me.
Is your son teething or is it the change to the new toddler bed? It could be the littlest thing as to the sleep issue from what I have been told, even by nurses & other parents.
The main thing I have been told is when they are tired they will fall... which I have noticed to be true in my case, I am a stay at home mom so it is fine for me but for moms that work that is tough.
My son is 3 and I also have been having bed time issues... he has been in a toddler bed for awhile now but lately for us he doesnt want the door closed & says he is scared. On top of that he is waking up frequently during the night? Others I have asked with older children say it is a phase & will end so I am just waiting.
Sorry I do not have much help but it is good to hear of someone with a child around same age as mine in a similar situation.
