2 year old tantrums when going to bed

[aozna]

He's started screaming no at me, hitting me and biting when I'm putting him into bed and hugging him. He will scream/cry for a good 20 mins.

what can I do? He is tired but not over tired. But he is needing to sleep. He really just doesn't want to sleep. It's the 5th night in a row and I'm exhausted it's bad but I end up giving up and letting him sit up for another 20 mins. I took him out loads on his bike today see if I could properly tire him out and I did he was shattered by 7 pm but his tantrums took until 8.30 to sleep. He is so angry at me when I put him to sleep.

I also have horrible neighbours who record our footsteps etc to report us as "loud". Can they do anything with that I'm so worried any of the kids fall and cry they are recoding it saying all sorts. The hosuing is bad I do hear them cough sneeze etc.

If he knows he's going to end up being allowed to stay up longer he will carry on. Also, maybe think about putting him to bed a bit later and see if that works.

Don't worry about the neighbours. There being footsteps as you move around, and the sound of a child crying at bedtime, is all normal noise and you won't get in trouble for it as you aren't doing anything unreasonable just living a normal family life. Any issues are the landlord's fault for not poor building construction without adequate soundproofing.

2 year olds are irrational. They don't want to be tired because being tired is boring. Tantrumming gets the adrenaline going and temporarily relieves the feeling of tired. You can't rationally logic a 2 year old into understanding that sleep makes the tired go away. Stick to a consistent routine. Check that your bedtime processes aren't too over-stimulating (we realised we were doing too many songs and stories). Be reassuring and nearby, but very very boring so that being awake is no more fun and interesting than bring asleep.