Please tell me about your rising two year old

[Muddlingalongalone]

Who was a terrible sleeper & suddenly turned a corner.
I just want to cry everynight, in fact I did cry at lunchtime when she wouldn't nap.
Poor DD1 barely gets a bedtime at the moment because of the horror that is Dd2.
She just never calms down. She's like a duracel bunny and then eventually passes out.
Aaarrgghh

[InsaneDame]

Mine is nearly 2.5 years now but he was awful sleep-wise until about 22 momths when he caught flu and was so tired out by it that he started sleeping through! He did that for three months but then started waking again. A normal night for him is asleep by 7.30pm, one brief wake up around 4am to be tucked in then up for the day around 7.15am. I'm quite happy with that one wake up as it's so quick to deal with and he does sleep through once a week or so. We put him in a single bed about a month ago and he seems so much more comfortable with the extra space. Changing him into a bed did start him refusing to nap so now he usually has an hour or so in the car instead of bed.

What is the problem with your DC? Night waking or sleep refusal?

[Muddlingalongalone]

Thank you for sharing your experience.
She does nightwake but it's not an issue - she goes back to bed easily enough or comes in with me & is gradually getting better & going for longer stretches. She's about a million times better than her sister who didn't sleep til she was over 3.

It's the sleep refusal that's the issue. When she was still in her cot she used to take 15-20 mins rolling around to calm down but now she's over an hour most nights closer to 2 hrs some nights.
I've just given up & let her scream at the top of the stairs for less than 5 mins after 45 mins of rapid return and she was asleep in seconds.
That's not a long term solution - sensitive 5 year old hates the screaming & I can't drag her back downstairs on a school night & otherwise DD2 will just go into Dd1's room.

She was an amazing sleeper til 6 months too. Grrr..
Just got to get DD1 to bed & it's cider time!

[InsaneDame]

The getting out of bed is just a phase which will end at some point! With my eldest (I also have a 7 year old DS) I told him that if he got out of bed I would shut the door and as soon as I heard him shuffling to get out I would slam the door shut for a few seconds which he hated then I opened it again and said the same thing each time - took 2 nights. Basically it teaches them that the door staying open is under their control and all they have to do is stay in bed for it to stay open! It was a Millpond sleep clinic technique. He was 24 months old at the time.

DS2 has been in a bed for a month and hasn't tried to get out after being put to bed although he is happy to leap in and out of it during the day!

Enjoy your cider!