2.5 years old taking ages to go to sleep

[psha1603]

Hi, my son who is now 2 years and 7 months has been a good sleeper since birth. Slept through when he was a baby and didn't need us to make him go to sleep and all. But now post 2 years regression (which lasted for 2 months) he takes ages to go to sleep. Like 45 mins to an hour. And needs us to be with him. I have manage to make him go to his cot and I sit next to it. But an hour seems too long. Few weeks back I was lying with him in the bed and he still took this long to sleep. He wakes up once at 4 am as well. Is this a phase?

Does he nap?

Yes. For about 1.5 to 2 hours. from 12:30 to 2:30 sort.

What time does he go to sleep and get up? He might just be not tired enough after a 2 hour nap.

It's the nap. My was exactly the same (in the end it was taking nearly 2 hours each night) dropped the nap and falls asleep fine now

DD was like this - we dropped her nap. 👍

Drop the nap

Maybe not drop the nap (it's a lifeline!!) but reduce to 45 mins

We have the same age child and the same thing

Thanks. I try to put him to bed at around 8:30 pm. He wakes up at 7:30ish now but sleep by around 9:30/10:00. We do try our best to make him tire enough with outdoor play etc but irrespective of that he takes this long.

Drop the nap doesn't look like a good trade as he sleeps for 2 hours and takes about an hour to sleep. So I will be losing one hour. lol :D

Drop the nap, but also mine used to regress when they were teething and could be a bit clingy at bedtime.

@Pooshweens yes that may work. Will try that.

Maybe try to put him down earlier in the evening..... he could be over tired...... 8.30 onwards is quite late for a little one to be going to bed.

What is he doing in the 45 mins before he falls asleep?

@ nannymags Eating his dinner. Its lockdown so different but I come home by 6:30. Then manage to give him something to eat by 7:00pm. We start his bedtime routine by 7:45 which is bath/book and usual quite play and then to bed by 8:30pm.

Mine is the same but it started when nursery closed so I think it’s emotional.

Could he have dinner at nursery and a snack/supper before bed? Do they not feed them at 5ish?

They do feed him at nursery but he is definitely hungry for dinner. And I am pretty convinced that he is not overtired. We have always followed similar routine in terms of putting him to bed late than usual standard as that is what suits us. (We are Indian so we eat our dinner by 9:30 pm so everything is kind of late)

Mine was the same. She’d nap for 2 hours if I let her. Now she has either no nap or maximum half an hour. Bedtimes are so much easier

Thank you all. Looks like shorter nap times and earlier nap times may be the solution. I have put him for his nap earlier

My just turned 3 year old is the same. Slept through since 3 months and dropped the naps after she turned 1. She goes to bed at 6 pm but if she has so much as 5/10 minutes nap during the day then it can take up to 2 and a half hours to get her to sleep at night so I just don't let her nap during the day it's not worth it at bedtime. I also have to sit beside her cot while she falls asleep

Definitely shorten the nap for now. When he's ready to drop it, it will be a gradual thing - some days he'll need a nap, some days he won't. For my DD (2 years 9 months) we've introduced "quiet time" - she goes up to bed, but with a few books and toys. Sometimes she falls asleep for a bit, increasingly she doesn't. But I still get a bit of down time either way

My friend does the same with her kid. He doesn't sleep often but lies down for an hour or so. But will update how it goes after shortening the nap.