To hate bedtimes??

[Amy214]

Dd 2 years old has always been in a routine but recently ive been putting her to bed an hour earlier (she kept waking up at 6am and i read somewhere that an earlier bedtime might help, i am not a morning person) but since trying to get her to bed earlier shes a pain! She constantly cries for a full hour before she even thinks about settling down (this is with me in the room trying to read her a story) millions of 'tisses and tuddles' later and shes still awake, i dread this time of night but plenty of and makes up for it, will she eventually get used to the early bedtime? The light nights dont help at all even with black out curtains (she doesnt believe its bedtime and i get 'no way' shouted at me everytime i tell her )

How many hours sleep is she getting a night? If it's more than 11 hours at age 2 then a 6am start is very normal. My 3.5 yr old goes to bed at 7pm, exhausted and is up from about 6.30am. She used to sleep 6.45-7am/7.15am when she was about age 2, plus a two hour nap.

How early are you putting her to bed? Does she still nap?

Maybe she just isn't tired an hour earlier And isn't ready for sleep

An hour earlier is a lot! Why have all that stress and crying just for her to go to sleep at the same time?

And surely an earlier time means an early wake up?

Maybe go back to original bedtime? Or compromise with a half hr difference?
Or get a gro clock?

She wasnt getting enough sleep at night maybe about 9 hours? And an hours sleep in the afternoon. I can see shes tired, she fights her sleep a lot, this morning she woke up 30 mins later and went to bed an hour earlier but fell asleep about 45mins before her actual bedtime if that makes sense? she normally went to bed at about 9.30pm and fell asleep at 10pm then woke up at 6am. Today it was 8.45pm and she keeps fighting it.. I can see her falling asleep and then sitting up, rubbing her eyes moaning that shes tired and then asking for a cuddle.

I was happy with an extra 30 mins in bed this morning.. I will try anything to get her to have more sleep because shes just so grumpy and its really not fair on her

I feel your pain, DD (3 & 1/2) has got progressively worse on the sleep front. We're now at day three of late sleep time and early start. She's exhausted and now really emotional but still won't just go to sleep. Like yours she also can't grasp that it's late/early when it's light. We've had varied success with child meditation CDs (relaxing stories read slowly with pauses and yawns), maybe look into that? Good luck!

do you let her settle herself or do you stay with her until she actually falls asleep? If she isn't self settling then that is the issue. the best way to crack this is with sleep training and there is a thread on chat about this at the moment with lots of positive stories.

9.30pm does seem very late for a 2 year old and you do need some of your own time.

rather than changing her night routine perhaps you need to cut out the day time naps. None of mine napped much beyond when they were 1 but they did sleep well at night usually bed at 7pm and up at 6am.

I know you aren't a morning person but you kind of have to put up with the early mornings if you want a bit of the evening to yourself.

Iamjellybean We have the rabbit who wants to fall asleep book but it doesnt work as she just screams over me (it did work when it wasnt so light) but ill try it again tomorrow. I have been looking at the gro anywhere blinds but theres mixed reviews and im willing to try anything for an early night! I'll be getting them tomorrow maybe you could try them?

We have blackout linings that attach to the curtain hooks at the back of the existing curtains. 9.30pm is very late for a 2 year old, that's when my 12 year old goes to bed on a school night

mummymeister she gets really cranky if she doesnt nap in the afternoon but i think that she needs them because she doesnt get much sleep at night? And the late night is because she sleeps in the afternoon? I found that she was falling asleep whilst eating dinner if she missed the nap.

But i'll try bringing meal times and bath forward a bit (half an hour?) skipping the nap and go for a walk, go to the park instead or have some quiet story time to distract her
It never really bothered me when she went to bed as i dont work but the light nights are really affecting her sleep

Amy214 does she self settle?

When it wasnt so light outside she used sleep until 8am but i am going to try cutting her nap out tomorrow and using some black out blinds and putting her to bad at about 8pm and gradually make it earlier every week until shes in bed by 7pm. I dont mind waking up early if ive had enough sleep but if i havent sleep very well i get quite grumpy aswell

Try not to do too many big changes in one go though. cutting the nap, bringing bedtime forward, changing meal times is an awful lot. maybe try one thing at a time for at least a few days to see how it goes.

Black out blinds are key.

Close the blinds and turn the light on before going up to bed. I close all the other doors upstairs so it seems darker. Then I turn the lights down to read a story. Then off for sleep time.

Mine go down around 7.30 - 8 and up around 7.30. Age 2.5. No nap unless at nursery where he has 1 HR or so. Would be up earlier without blckout blinds tho.

mummymeister forgot to add that she can self settle some nights. Like i can read her a story wait for 5 mins then say night and shes fine but recently she has been very clingy even through the day (crying when i leave the room for 2mins and following me everywhere) shes my 1st so i admit that i have spoiled her with cuddles

maybe 8/8.30pm is a more realistic goal than 7pm

Mummymeister her mealtimes are different on the days she has playgroup anyway so i could make everyday the same.
Breakfast 8am
Snack 10am (biscuit)
Lunch 12pm
Snack 2pm. (raisons)
Dinner 4pm
Snack 8pm then bed
Rather than around an hour later on her days off, i think she would be ok with that
She gets grumpy if she doesnt eat (shes getting further investigations for diabetes so i am very paranoid about her blood sugars)

Dementedpoxie i want to eventually aim for 7pm, maybe in a couple of months?

Neither of mine went to bed as early as 7pm. Was always closer to 8pm. Those days are long gone now and we follow close behind them especially at weekends! Mine are 9 and 12 now. My 12 year old sleeps until 10am at weekends although ds still gets up around 7am even after a late night

Hmm, a 2 year old doesn't need to self settle in order to go to bed early/sleep through. You can't spoil with cuddles OP, don't beat yourself up over that!

I have noticed that both DD (also age 2) and I need less sleep during the summer, perhaps this is also a factor?

thescruffiestgiantintown i loved the cuddles and i miss them! I have to fight for a cuddle now but i do like the cuddles and kisses at night they make up for it.
She sleeps perfectly fine once shes asleep unless shes ill which is rare. I know it wont last for long and i know i will soon miss the days she wanted me to sit by her, time goes by too fast.

dementedpixie she starts nursery next year and its a morning class that starts at 8am so i was aiming to get her in bed by 7pm for september next year, so that she had enough sleep and enough time to get ready