Nearly 3 yo bedtime has gone to s--t

[exceptmeandmymonkey]

My near 3 yo DC used to have a pretty fantastic bedtime, for both nap and night sleep. Book, cuddle, song, bed. Fairly pleasant most days except when ill.

For the last 4 months or so, every bedtime has been a struggle. DC calls us into the nursery anywhere from 3-7 times after being put down. Needs a poo. Needs sleeping bag adjusted. Needs a song. Needs a cuddle. Basically wants attention. (Nap is usually 1 hour long around 13:30; bedtime is 19ish. DC very cranky without the nap.)

We explained to DC that time in bed is for resting and please only call when you need a poo, are sick or need help. Now the requests have shifted to needing a poo...every time. Occasionally there is a poo but mostly not.

I'm a breaking point from lack of sleep and the general struggle of wrestling DC onto and off the toilet, sometimes staying awake for 90 minutes after being put down (repeatedly interrupting me cooking dinner/lunch) and then waking up anywhere from 2-4 times in the night. I feel I am being outwitted by a toddler and I have lost the few calm moments of my day that I need so much.

Any advice from more experienced mums?

Get rid of the nap, you'll have to deal with a bit of crankiness for a week or two but it should stop the messing around at bedtime.

Definitely get rid of the nap. I went through this for 6 months, as soon as I dropped the nap they went straight to sleep

Definitely get rid of the nap and bring bedtime forward to 6pm.

Ditch the nap!
you might have a few weeks (or on occasion if you have a really busy day) where they fall asleep late afternoon and you cannot keep them awake, let them have no more than half an hour and keep bedtime as usual.
for our 2y8m old we go for a bath at 6:30, teeth, pyjamas, story, cuddle and then he’s usually asleep by 7:10.

OK, this has been very helpful. Seems like it's time for the nap to go! Thank you very much.

We just stay in the room with ours. I'm in the chair in the corner and read, that's our routine. He 100% needs me in the room but I don't mind that.

Agree with getting rid of the nap, tea at 5pm sharp then start bedtime not long after with aim of 18:30 ish in bed and asleep.

I always recommend audiobooks or CBeebies radio for people who don't want to sit with a toddler til they fall asleep. Have the volume very low so they have to low still to hear it!

As others have said time for the nap to go! Good luck with it. It’s a tricky transition but bedtime nonsense is the surest sign the napping days are over.

Why is she in a sleeping bag if she's 3? I'd ditch that too. My DD would've found that very restrictive at that age.