2 year old finally cracked pooing on the potty but sleep has gone to sh*t! HELP!

[Impatient6227]

So my (nearly) 2.5 year old excellent sleeper has finally started to poo on the toilet after refusing for a solid 6 weeks. He is VERY proud of himself but literally overnight his sleep has nose dived.

Since he was 8 weeks old he slept through the night and since he's been able to take himself to bed he's happily gone down with zero fuss. We naturally high fived and patted ourselves on the back until my DD came along and slapped us clean in the face by refusing to sleep for the first 6 months of her life but anyway..

Since the first night he succeeded with a toilet poo he repeatedly says "im not go to sleep" and crys and screams for either myself or DP for a solid 45minutes. I find it heartbreaking because its so out of character for him 😥 ive tried to get out of him what the real issue is and he did mention being scared of camera (the baby monitor) but he's just got worse and worse since then. He can't articulate why he doesn't want to sleep and im at a loss as to what to do.

For info he's still having a nap (or was) but he's now refusing that also, though nursery day he goes down fine there. We have attempted no nap but it made zero difference.

Any advice on what I can do to help him?

Hello 👋! No advice but with you in solidarity!! My daughter has just turned 3 and we have JUST after 3 months of consistently trying to potty train started to nail the potty, there was no accidents- she would just hold it in allllllll day until the night nappy was on and the flood gates would open!! With this came (and still is I'm afraid) the lousy sleep. Initially I put it down to anxiety around the potty training and she would poo overnight which was waking her. Beforehand she was the dream, a story, a cuddle, goodnight, done!! Now we have to lay until she's asleep and its like having a newborn - up at all hours!!! She has been having dry nights for past 2 weeks but this hasn't improved the sleep at all! I've now given up and just sleep in her bed with her (after going to sleep around 7.30 she normally wakes between midnight and 2am) and that when i join her. she actually sleeps soundly then, but I'm actually in mourning over our old routine 😭😭. I'm hoping it's a case of her having a big brain leap and all will settle in its own time 🤞🤞🤞🤞. We aren't out of the woods with potty training yet as she is refusing to use the toilet- but after the long slog we've had I'm happy to ride the wave of just using the potty for now. If you find the secret magical formula then please do share 😂

@PeppermintTeaThenBed thank god im not the only one...we thought he was bombproof with sleep, he slept through everything with the newborn (i wish we did!)

Currently pinning all my hope on a amazon prime thomas the tank bed set... ill let you know if it solves all the sleep issues!

I think it might be anxiety too - it started as him saying i need a poo everytime he lay down but has just escalated to full screaming now 😳

Yes me with mine too! An absolute angel! And like you said its like a switch has flicked and I have no idea who this nighttime monster is 😂. I know your little boy is only 2.5 but when my son turned 3 that's when his sleep also went down the swanny (he was also excellent). I believe his was more linked to nightmares which I believe are common to start around 3. He would get up once or twice a night but he was very easy to put back in his own bed. My daughter absolutely looses her mind at the moment if I attempt such a move! He is now 5 and back to being brilliant (hasn't been terrible for the full 2 years, just very hit and miss). No amount of bribes or offers of bedroom upgrade treats are working with my girl though 🙄

I do feel its the potty training fear and their little brains are doing somersaults trying to process that and all their other little trials and tribulations! Good luck and sending good vibes for the magical Thomas bed sheets! 🙏

I’d just go low demand, low pressure, very nonchalant for the time being, if that’s an option. Go with the flow and know it’s only temporary. My experience is that babies, toddlers and kids all go through stages like this with sleep and I am pretty sure nothing we do as parents changes it, it just resolves itself. Whether it’s fear of change around the toileting, a developmental leap in their brain wiring, sleep needs adjusting, language development or something else that’s making it hard for them to sleep.

I find it all sorts itself out over two weeks, as they get overtired, then catch up on sleep and then it straightens itself out.

so if you can, just keep it all chilled. “I know you don’t want to go to sleep. We’re not going to sleep, we’re doing this instead (see examples below)”

• a tablet with something really relaxing on (from YouTube, like an aquarium and music—or sometimes coloured smoke and music ) and I say you can lie and watch this if you’re not tired. I lie on the floor with my phone as they watch that and half n hour later they’re asleep.

• a playlist of songs or audiobook/yoto story (though 2.5 might be a bit young for that). But there is a free official Thomas and Friends bedtime story podcast (look for the UK one) and I think nick jr do a night time podcast of things like blues clues and Dora the explorer too. there’s also CBeebies Radio. If he can lie and listen to that, it might calm his brain enough to fall to sleep. Or just take some of the pressure off.

• another thing my DD likes: body scanning. So I’d say good night to everything on her body with a stroke or tap. Or a wave 🤣 Night night toe, night night ankle, that sort of thing. She still loves that now at 5.

• projector might be another good idea to help relax. I got one for £8 from B&M