2.5yo now in big girl bed and it's a nightmare!

[stclair]

Dd had been wanting a toddler bed for a while like her friend has and was not happy with cot any longer. So, 10 days ago into her new bed she went and oh, sleep deprivation reigns all round! In order to get her to sleep at night I need to sit with her until she falls asleep as there is no chance she will stay in the bed. If I sit on the landing instead waiting for her she just gets more and more excited each time I have to put her back to bed. All though this was a pain, at least the first 3 nights she slept through as she normally would. But, the past few nights have been dreadful! I have to sit with her to get her to sleep as usual (last night took 1.5 hours as she had had a 1 hour nap after lunch with me staying in her room - usually 20 mins to get to sleep if hasn't had nap) and then she wakes around 3am and calls out and starts walking about, totally awake. I explain it isn't morning time and she needs to go back to bed and end up sleeping on the floor next to her bed to keep her there. Have tried having her in our bed when she wakes up but she just chats away very awake and in no danger of going to sleep. She can take 3 hours to get back to sleep once awake, just tossing and turning and generally can't relax. Please, how long does this go on for and will it ever end?! Prior to this she was a good sleeper although could still take a long time to get to sleep.

2.5 is old enough to understand a little. I would get the cot back out. Don't necessarily need to assemble it. Explain that you thought she was big enough for a bed, but as she's climbing out she obviously isn't ready. She'll probably tell you she is. So you bargain with her. "Well... if you don't get out when I've put you, then I'll give you another night to try and see if you can be a big girl."
If she is getting out still then assemble the cot the next night and the first time she gets out (without good reason) she goes into the cot.

For getting to sleep I always found the "I've just got to..." excuse a good one. I say "I need to just put the washing away. If you stay in bed then I'll come back and sit with you for a bit." If she's still awake then sit with her for a bit. Let her hold your hand but no talking. Then maybe you "need to go to the toilet" again you'll come back if she stays in bed. If she doesn't then put her back in and leave. Stairgate on door helps keep her in her room so you don't need to worry about her hurting herself.

And a sticker chart for each night where she doesn't get out. Perhaps at first allow one getting out, and give two stickers if she stays in.

During the night's harder. If she could behave then a couple of picture books to look at and a night light works great. They can "read" each book once and then turn the light out. Worked with my oldest, the other two given an inch take a mile so didn't.

I'd do what DeWe said. Tell her if she doesn't stay in bed that you will put the cot back up and she will sleep in that.

Stick with it. Keep sitting with her - it's probably a bit overwhelming too. It took DS a few weeks to stop getting out but he's ok now. Also naps - we made sure he had been run ragged first. Just keep it boring - stay for bedtime and put back to bed in the night with minimal fuss.

We didn't make a big fuss when we switched to a bed - it arrived in the morning then into bed and that's it.

Have you got a stairgate on the door? Our dd settled straight down once we put that on (a few days after the first night in big bed). I think it gives them a bit of security and the boundaries that they are used to with the cot.

I wouldn't stay with her till she's asleep though, were you doing this when she was in the cot?
If she is happy playing in her room leave her to it and she how she goes. We do try and leave DD in bed with some books, rather than playing on the floor, sometimes she gets back up again, but she's good at getting back in to bed when ready and goes to sleep. She was just 2 when we moved her (as needed the cot for DD2!)

Or maybe it's time to drop the nap so she's properly tired.

Thanks for your replies, tonight has been a minor miracle! I put a stairgate at her door this evening, but after I left the room and went downstairs after saying goodnight she was straight up at it and called out to me for the next half hour, "I want to go downstairs, mummy". (How they don't get tired repeating the same thing I don't know!) So, I went back up and did as DeWe suggested and after she had a little sobbing session told her that I was going downstairs to start mummy and daddy's dinner and if she stayed in bed would come back and give her another kiss goodnight. She agreed, and I went back to her room 10 mins later and she was fast asleep! Yay! Fingers crossed she stays asleep all night . . .