My 2years old boy goes to bed very late.

[bjka]

I need some help from you mums.
My 2 years old boy has his bath at around 8 but he will not go to sleep until 10 -10.30 and gets up at 7. I need to mention that he is still in our bedroom and still requires me or his dad to stay with him untill he falls asleep (Then we can move him to his bed). He used to fall asleep at around 7 -7.30 but this has changed 4 months ago. He has a 2 hours nap during the day.
We also have 8 months old daughter but she falls asleep (7ish) on her own in her own cot but still in our bedroom.
We know we have a lot to work with thats why i am asking for help.

Can anyone advice what we should do to get him to fall asleep on his own at earlier hours? Or should we just move him amd his sister to their bedroom and start in there? Either way please please help.

Yes but sometimes young kids love hyper and full of energy when in fact they are. But understand your point!

I agree with Fred. You have to chose your battles. My ds is 26 months and a night owl. I've tried everything in the book bar controlled crying to get him to bed earlier but he's just not tired. We now put him to bed when he asks, whether that's 9, 10 or sometimes later. He goes to bed with no fuss whatsoever. Just a story and bf and he's spark out. Some people are just night owls. His dad is and so is my step son so I think it's in the genes. As long as they are getting enough sleep in general, then the bed time is irrelevant.

My DD can give a good impression of being wide awake and is perfectly capable of getting to 10pm, still in good spirits. But we really all suffer the next day if we let her do that. She is like a different child if she hasn't had enough sleep. Not looking tired isn't really enough to let a child stay up.

I agree, small kids need sleep that's why people focus on 7 pm.

We had the same issue with our night owl DD and are cutting out her nap now although she may have a powernap of 30min or so in the buggy or car if it happens. It shifts her bedtime from 9.30/10 to 7/8ish quite easily.

I know they are impossible in the afternoon during the transition phase but you just need to plan ahead. If you wake him from the nap after one hour, for example, plan some activity to capture his attention. We've found the only way to keep her from falling asleep around 4 or 5 is letting her watch peppa pig cartoons until 6 and then do dinner and bed. It's not my dream scenario but we've decided during the transition we'll do it like this because they do get quite
Impossible when they don't have the nap.

Good luck!

What everyone else has said - start by cutting the nap (altogether, not waking him up early - that'd put anyone in a foul mood!) - & be prepared for a very grumpy few days, & him falling asleep over tea.

Definitely don't put him to bed two hours before he's actually ready to sleep, then sit with him for two hours; it just makes the whole thing more stressful for everyone, turning it into a much bigger deal than it needs to be. Life's too short.

I would cut the nap & tough out the grumpiness, move tea & bathtime to have it all done by 6pm, & then curl up & read to him for half an hour.

Then I'd dim the lights & just potter around the room whilst he settled, taking the opportunity to put clothes/toys away etc - nipping off down the landing to 'just get something' every so often, if you can get away with it. The idea is to create the sense that whilst you are a reassuring presence nearby, you are not sitting anxiously scrutinising him, worrying about whether he's dropping off or not - if he really wants to lie awake, meh, that's fine.

In fact, I'd definitely have him & dd moving into their room together & both of them on the same bedtime routine - I ended up with three under 4s sharing a small room before we moved, & it always amazed me how they blocked out each other's noise - & found each other's snuffling quite soothing, apparently!

The most important thing is definitely not to let it get to you. He's fine - he's getting plenty of sleep on his current routine; it's not a massive problem that Must Be Fixed. If the least stressful way for you is, actually, to let him go to bed at 10pm when he's tired, until you're back at work & then see if he drops the nap naturally in a month or two, then just do that...

What raven said, with bells on !

If he has just turned two then I suspect that he might not be quite ready to cut out that nap. If he is nearer to three, then give it a try.

So maybe focus on trying something like a new bedtime routine and gradual retreat to get him settling without you, then see if the times adjust when the nap disappears?