2 1/2 year old delays bedtime by wanting to play with his cars

[bumbly]

any hints and tips...he simply gets them out of drawer when i tidy them and plays with them refusing to go to bed

we put him in bed ( all folk who say just put him in bed - we do!) but then tsantrums start!

any tips and hints?

I actually correctly predicted the OP's name just by reading the thread title!

Em, take the toys off him, put him to bed and ignore the tantrums?

how sympathetic

It doesn't seem to have ever occurred to DS1 that he could get out of bed and play with his toys at night, but if he did, I'd just remove them from his room tbh.

THat was just nasty oliviacrumble.

Bumbly, I think 2.5 is prime time for toddlers to start playing up a bedtime, my ds who is 2.3 has started dragging his feet about going upstairs at bedtime. Sometimes if we say we're going to have a race upstairs he comes happily for that. He loves the whole get ready, get set, GO! palaver at the bottom of the stairs. Does he have a routine at bedtime? Is he in a cot or bed?

bumbly, there are 2 tactics

the first, which is what I do, is to leave them to it!
put him to bed. if he gets out and plays, that's fine. maybe he just isn't tired yet. just go up every 10 or 15 minutes and say bedtime now and pop him back in bed. eventually he'll stay and go to sleep.
my rule is that if they're upstairs and not making a fuss then it's fine!!!

you're other option is to just remove the toys from his room, and keep putting him abck in bed if he gets up

Sorry for being nasty OP .

DS 2 1/2 does this too, I go in every 10mins to put him back in bed, also often put the cars up on a shelf in his room and say we will get them straight down in the morning.

I would rather leave them in there tbh so that i may get 10 extra mins in bed while he plays in the morning!

2 more possible tactics.

Give him a very clear 5 min warning before bedtime "In 5 minutes we will put the toys away and go to bed" and stick to it. totally. Many children find it easier to do this after a small warning.

Let him take a couple of cars to bed with him.

and then, as the others say, ignroe the tantrums, tell him you can play again with the toys in the morning, put him back in bed again, etc.

Can you make a game out of putting the cars away for the night? Get an old box or something that can be a garage, say night night to them and put them away....downstairs.

Does he have a clear bedtime routine?

Ds is a bit older, but from that age if not younger he would take a toy or book (or both) to bed with him and play with them once the light had gone out (the fact it's dark doesn't seem to faze him in the least).

It doesn't make any difference in how long it takes him to get to sleep.

Just take them out...