I keep putting him to bed because I don't know what else to do!

[kwaker5]

I just seem to be having a nightmare with DS at the moment. He is 19+ months and just whingeing all the time. Won't play with any toys, won't watch TV, won't listen to a story, doesn't want to go out, etc, etc. This morning it got to the stage when he was just throwing things round the house, so I put him to bed!

I have been doing this a lot for the past 2-3 days though (yesterday he did 2x1.5 hour naps and slept 7pm-7am). Could he just be really tired for some reason or am I forcing him to sleep when I should be looking for something else to do with him?!

Often when we he is like this and we do go out, he falls asleep in the car/buggy anyway but then wakes after 30-40 mins and is foul again. He does at least wake up happier when he's had a decent sleep in his cot.

I think it's just a "bloke" thing.
They are generally miserable.
Are you fretfull around him when he's stressy? They do pick up on parent's tension.
Take him out in the garden, pick daisies together.
Laugh at him.
Make something together.
If you know that he's got everything that he needs, he's not wet/hungry/hurt I think the whinging must be ignored. We tend to think that we MUST do something for them every time they moan, but that leeds to the child thinking they'll always have you running to them whenever they want. That is fine if we want to be wiping their arses for them still when they are 21.
My 3 have all gone through various "phases" and come out the other side.

As goober says they all go through phases. My 3yr old ds has been whingey and sleeping more for the last week and a half too. It's very draining, isn't it?

When mine are like that I always think they are 'coming down with something'. Eventually, I might give them a dose of calpol and, if they were happier, it would confirm that something had been hurting somewhere! If not, they were just needing more sleep.

I suppose, if he is sleeping when you put him to bed, that he does need extra sleep.

My ds1 sleeps alot when he is having a growth spurt.
He normally just has a nap after lunch but during a growth spurt he'll have a good nap in the morning, one in the afternoon and want to be in bed for 6pm!
Not to mention the tantrums.

Thanks for the replies. Could well be a growth spurt as he has been eating quite a lot today. Will try to get out more despite his protests, although when he's really whiney there's a bigger risk of meltdown in public!

Hopefully it will pass. Sometimes I just wonder if it's the start of a permanent change and every day for the next 4 years might be like this!

Oh, am in the same boat. It's bloody awful, isn't it?

I always blame teeth - has he got any molars coming through?

There is something to be said about "growth spurts". They say that children only grow when they are sleeping so this might make him extra tired.
I'm so glad I'm passed all that with mine, youngest is 9. Now got teenagers to contend with!
Happy days.