2 year old not sleeping

[Danfra06]

Can anyone please help. My 2 year old will get up between 8/9am everyday have no naps in the day and be really tired by 7pm she'll go to sleep but by 8pm she'll be back downstairs wide awake and won't go to sleep till 2/3am. And then she will be up at 8/9. Before bed she has warm milk and squash which she's had since she was a baby. We've tried reading to her in her bed, our bed, downstairs. The iPad and to go off at 10. We've started sitting in the dark with her. Nothing seems to help. She was in a good routine of sleeping up till she was about 18 months old and weve had this ever since.
Thank you for any help and advice.

[4kidssteph]

I'm on the other end of the scale.. My nearly 2 year old DD goes to bed perfectly, but gets up at 3/4am every morning to start the day! I have 4 kids all together and she is my 3rd. With my older two I didn't have any sleep issues, but always have stayed consistent, no squash after tea time, bath at 6.45 straight in to pjs and in bed with stories by 7.15.. Lights out at 7.30. If they did try it on I would put them straight back with little to no conversation and repeat if necessary and it worked after a few days. They had no games/iPads/ technology after tea.. Only a few of their programmes leading up to bath time where we would sit and start to wind down. .... Believe me I thought it was easy til my third so I feel you're pain, as consistency and perseverance hasn't helped with her. But that was/is our bedtime routine and it has always worked for getting them into bed. Hope it resolved soon for you. Xx

[KillashandraRee]

I'd probably swap squash for water as sugar not a great idea before bed.

And agree regular bedtime routine, no tv iPad etc from tea time, stories only. Maybe lie down next to her at around the time she normally wakes back up and stroke her hair, settle her back to sleep before she has chance to get fully awake.

I'd also turn off lights and tv before she wakes up and be in bed myself so if she wakes up there is nothing exciting and everyone is doing what she is meant to be, IYSWIM?

I'm struggling with my 19 month old waking at 4.30 every day though so I know how hard it is. We've improved it somewhat by putting him in a big bed so I can lie next to him. It gained me a five fifteen am start today rather than 4.15....every hour horizontal is a bonus in my opinion!

[Honeyava]

My one kid also did something same then I made a routine to sleep or pretend to sleep with her at round about 8 pm. The advantage for me, I also getup almost 6 am. Now, I'm happy, I change the routine of my kid.

[tangerinesarenottheonlyfruit]

I feel your pain! 2yo DD is also a night owl, she used to go to sleep around 11/12 and wake up around 8. Recently she's mostly dropped her nap and that's made a massive difference.

The thing is, your DD is having a nap. She's having a nap at 7pm.

If DD napped at 7pm, she'd be up till 2am too. In fact this is pretty much what she did when we went away at Christmas.

You must be shattered. It's tiring getting no break isn't it?!

Is she sleeping till 8/9am as this is your chance to catch up on sleep?

I'd say, hard as it may be, one key to this is getting her up earlier, so she gets tired earlier. Say you start the day at 7pm, then that brings the whole thing forward 2 hours. Then, try to get her nap in sooner. Maybe take her to bed around 2 or 3 and see if she'll sleep. Then bed around 8.

Those times might not work exactly for you - or her - but I think the key must be earlier mornings and an earlier nap, surely.

Also now DD has nearly dropped her nap it's much clearer to me that she's good at staying awake,.but if we can catch her before she gets her second wind we're winning. On days she doesn't nap, she gets up around 7:30, and if we can get her into bed for 6:30 / 7ish she sleeps through. If we mids that, and she's still awake 7:30 or so, that's it, we're stuffed as she finds her second wind and is up till 10ish or later even.

I wonder if we were missing this before?

Another thing you might try would be to see if she's ready to drop the nap maybe. If she stays awake longer will she then go to sleep earlier and stay asleep?