how good is your 2.5 (or thereabouts) at going to sleep?

[drivingmisscrazy]

DD is 2.5 and a joy in every way. BUT she is tricky to get off to bed in the evenings. We go through short phases of putting her to bed and her going to sleep without little difficulty, but the default seems to be at least 30 mins (lately well over an hour) of chatting (fine), singing (fine), wailing (less fine), crying (not fine) and shouting ('I want to get up', 'I want mummy', 'I want to go downstairs')...why can she do it fine sometimes, but not at others? It's kind of wearing and I don't like that she ends up crying herself to sleep.

I can't see any pattern really - plenty of physical activity helps (but has had that today ), developmental leaps don't - but we have pretty much the same bedtime routine every night. She goes to bed about 7, stories and teeth, lights out (as it were) at 7.20. Often wakes late - 8, 8.30. Perhaps I just need to wake her up earlier and reset her, as it were?

Just curious about others' experiences. She doesn't nap in the day and hasn't for about 8 months now.

[LittleCatZ]

Wish I could offer advice... am listening to 4 yo DS having a debate with Dad about not being tired...

[kittywalker]

Well normally I would say fine but tonight arrrgggghhhhhh!! She has got out of bed about 8/9 times since going to bed at 7!! Think maybe she had too long a nap this afternoon.

[drivingmisscrazy]

well, she's finally gone, about 90 minutes after first getting into bed! LittleCatZ - I have a horrible feeling that she is going to turn into that 4 year old!

[LittleCatZ]

My 20mo DS2 is trying to give up naps in the day at the moment when he definitely still needs a 45 min power nap as a minimum. At least he was ready to crash at bedtime but I bet he wakes in the night. How are your days -can you have a 'calm time' in the middle of the day?

[AlsoAvailableSober]

Fine for me. Plays DH up a treat though with extra loo trips/drinks/play with bath toys

[drivingmisscrazy]

Days are usually busy, but she often has about 30 mins of tv after lunch, or after nursery (3 mornings a week) which is kind of chilling out time I suppose (although personally I find Mr Tumble exhausting!)

[LittleCatZ]

DC seem to struggle to unwind... I'm worried they inherited it from me! They also test boundaries a lot between 2 and 3... great that they trust you to still love them but draining at the end of a long day. Most of the time 4yo is easy if that's any comfort.

[drivingmisscrazy]

yes, some of it is about boundaries and bedtime has always been tricky in this regard. I usually go up now, reassure and tell her firmly that she has to go to sleep and that I will not return. She will cry then to see if I mean it, and then, when she realises that I do, go to sleep. So I think I need to reinforce this more in the run-up to bedtime. Her understanding is pretty good.

[LittleCatZ]

Sounds like you're being tested more right now. When ds2 was born we did have to resort to 'rewards' for ds1 going to sleep without a fuss, this did work okay just had to 'forget' until he forgot about it.