2 year old suddenly hysterical at bedtime

[drivingmisscrazy]

that's it really...I think she is just having a humungous tantrum because she'd rather stay up and play. We've been leaving her to yell - it usually takes about 15 minutes for her to give up and go to sleep. Am assuming that I am not damaging her for life :)

ok, she's now been crying for almost 45 minutes - give up, or go up?

anyone?

Personally, I'd go up and do the Boring Return technique as if she'd been leaving the room.

By now she may no longer know why she's crying, and just be overwhelmed by her upset.

yes, she's just yelling 'mummy, mummy, get me up, get me up'. She's always been a tricky sleeper in one form or another - and this is just the latest source of stress. Just don't know what to do to get her sleep better.

drivingmisscrazy what did you do in the end? I am right where you were last week. I started the supernanny thing but have just left her to cry on the landing now.

well, we left her for a bit, on the grounds that she is 2 years, not 2 months. Most nights it worked after 10-15 minutes, but if you leave her too long she just keeps crying because she is crying, IYSWIM. We had a good week, but now we are off again tonight...it gets very wearying. I have no magic solutions, I'm afraid, but we don't usually let her cry for longer than about 20 minutes without going in and reassuring her. Sympathies!

OMG, my two year old is the same. He used to be ace, you could say X go to sleep and he would close his eyes and snuggle. Tonight i opened his door and hit him in the face, thinking he had just got out of bed.....so that helped my already shit day feel worse!!

I have go level ten on bejeweled as I sit outside their door on the stairs.

aargh! sometimes I think it will never bloody end. And she's had a nice quiet day today - often this crap happens because she is very easy to overstimulate and generally a quiet kid who doesn't find a way to de-stress...and then she can't go to sleep

Well I left her for 10 or so minutes then said if she got into bed I would come up and give her a cuddle. One cuddle and two songs later I had a sleeping toddler.

She tried it again last night but I just left the room. Then went back in 2 minutes later and she calmed down and complied to the normal calm routine. I am only hoping we have now broken the cycle!