Advice for toddler bedtime issues

[lucamom]

I have 2 boys, aged 4 and 2 (will be 3 in August) who have shared a room since Xmas. Initially they adapted well to sharing and went to sleep with no problems.

Lately, however, my youngest son has ben very disruptive at bedtime; constantly getting out of bed and generally playing up.

I'd welcome any thoughts or advice - the key points for info are:

• He's always been a relatively good sleeper

• I'm a SAHM so he sees me all day, and Daddy is usually home in time for bath/story/bed duties

• He's no worse/better with either myself or DH

• We've always had a consistent bedtime routine as per advice - bath, story bed, so he knows the triggers and signs for bedtime

• We're not sure exactly, but it seems to have started from potty training. He's dry in the day but wears pull ups at night (these are usually dry in the morning)

• He seems to be amused the more cross we get, and finds 'rapid return' hilarious, even after 40-50 times of doing it.

• There's a blackout blind at the window as well as curtains, although during the summer months there is some light in the room

• In every other way he's a good kid - his health is great, he eats well, and by the time he goes to bed at 7pm he's tired enough that he should sleep.

It's a very stressful situation we want to get on top of asap, not least because his brother is starting school in September and he's going to nursery, and we've baby number 3 due in October!

Thanks in advance for your advice

You could try putting him to bed half an hour before the older one? When we first put DD in a bed she kept coming out and running about on the landing. I told her if she keeps opening the door she'll break it, then eventually held it closed for a bit. When she let go and went back to bed crying I went in and asked what was wrong. Then told her she must have broken the door, but not to worry as long as she didn't keep playing with it and stayed in bed it'd be fine. She's usually so tired that if you can get her to lie down for a couple of minutes she'll fall asleep. Could you just take the other one out of the equation for a few nights so that's not an added irritation?