2 year old bedtime meltdowns

[TwigletsAndStars]

I'm hoping for some advice to get bedtimes with DD 2.2 back under control from anyone who might have experienced this and got through it.

Until about 6 weeks ago everything was great. She would fall asleep at about 8:30 pm and sleep through until about 6:30 am. She would also nap for about 1 - 1.5 hrs around lunchtime.

Putting her to bed was easy. A few books and cuddle in bed for about 15 mins and she would be asleep. We never got to the point of leaving her on her own to fall asleep but never really needed to because it was so easy to just stay with her for a bit and it was nice to have that time with her at the end of the day.

Since about 6 weeks ago she just will not fall asleep. It's taking 1 - 1.5 hours plus for her to fall asleep. During this time she gets increasingly hysterical and is generally ending up shouting and in tears. She does actually seem tired but just will not fall asleep.

I'm totally lost as to what to do. Do I need to shorten the nap? Drop the nap? Just try to ride it out? Try to wear her out more during the day? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Drop the nap.

Hi Hun our little boy is 2 1/2 and goes through phases where he's fine and goes to sleep on his own in his cot but then other days he lies there shouting mom mom mom for ages...he has a nap around 12.30 in the afternoon but we tend to wake him after 1hr30 mins as find the longer he naps the longer he's taking to settle on a night...our little one is the same as urs by usually falling to sleep around 8/8.30pm and we have to wake him during the week around 6.45am...I think it's just phases they go through xx

We have the same problem! Bedtime has become a nightmare. My 2.5 year old went to bed about 7, woke at 6 and napped 12-1.30. Now it’s taking a very stressful hour to get her to sleep.

We’ve changed the nap to an hour but I’m not dropping it as she needs it, and I’ve read that this is quite common. So going to see how the next few weeks go and hope it calms down. Fingers crossed!

We just sleep trained our twins. We read them a book, sing a goodnight song and put them to bed (in their own room).
We also had them fall asleep on us or in our bed but it just wasn't sustainable. Then we sleep trained them by letting them cry for a bit then picking them up once in a while, all until they settle. If you hear the cry escalating you definitely pick them up, but if it doesn't, you let them cry more. It had worked here 👍

My DS was 2.5 when he dropped his nap. Bed time wasn't stressful but was slowly taking longer and longer.

He dropped his nap himself, suddenly didn't want it anymore. There is a big period of adjustment for everyone, I missed his 2 hour lunch time naps, but he went to bed much earlier and I had more of an evening.

Definitely drop that nap, my DD was about 2.5 when we realised naps were affecting bedtime in a bad way. We had a patchy phase where sometimes she clearly needed it so she’d have max 30 mins, but if she seemed fine at lunchtime we’d ride it out.

We leave dd in her room. She has music playing, and she also has books in her room which she can read before going to sleep if she wants.

She knows she has to stay in her room on her own once we have put her to bed,if she wants to read or play we don't mind, as she falls asleep eventually

Don’t drop the nap, shorten the nap. A 2.2 year old should nap. Shorten nap and try and tire her more out in the afternoon, lots of fresh air.
Maybe change her room about, have a routine for the eve so she knows she approaching bedtime.

Drop the nap. Make a calming routine (bath, story, say goodnight to Teddy etc) and make sure the lights are dim for story time. Put light off and say goodnight and that you'll pop back in 5 mins. If she's still awake reassure her and go back in another 5. Then she knows you're not far away and she may well drop off to sleep. If she isn't asleep yet give her something to think about (which fairies might live in the garden, what Father Christmas might be doing today) and this means the creative/dreamlike thoughts could help her fall asleep.

Good luck

I would recommend a reduced nap time during the day. Dropping it completely might mean she is over tired by bed time if you don't let her have a wee nap.

I have four DC and found they all were similar like this around same age. Fingers crossed that you get this resolved quickly

Sleep training

It's totally normal for them to have these times. My son's had a bad one today!

I actually find its worse after hes had a busy day. He doesnt nap though, ever. I would cut it down to about 1 hour / 45minutes.

My boy normally sleeps 6.30-7.30 so I'm ok that he doesn't nap if i get a solid nights sleep!

Sleep regressions are a thing, plus the change in the days, the nights are dark and the wind is loud. They are probably surrounded by the Christmas lights all day then go to bed to a dull dark room. iyswim?

I wouldn't go changing too much right now except cutting the nap down a bit tbh

Btw he stopped the nap himself about 16months old. It was shit. But no amount of anything was forcing him and since them he sleeps at night like a champ so i accept it!

Thank you so much all for taking the time to reply! It sounds like cutting back on the nap is the place to start. We'll give it a go this week and see how we get on.