Hi I'm new, been lurking for a while though :waves: Im really needing some help though with my just turned 3 year old's sleep.
Ever since he was a newborn he has hated going to sleep and screamed every time we put him down. When he was in his cot, we got to the stage where we did CIO with him as we could take it no longer. About 9 months ago, he started climbing out his cot at bedtime so we put him in a bed. Since then, getting him to bed at night has been an absolute nightmare. We have a regular bedtime routine-bath, episode of Thomas the Tank with banana and drink, then upstairs for teeth brush then 2 stories and talk about the day in bed (whole thing lasts around 45mins). We aim for him to be in bed by 8pm. That's when the fun starts-screaming, running about, coming downstairs, laughing when we put him back to bed.
I feel like we've tried everything-putting him back (no difference even after 4 days-he thought it was a hilarious game), ignoring him (would be up all night), letting him stay up till he was exhausted, earlier bedtime, cutting out daytime naps. The end was always the same-fighting bedtime and screaming when being told to go to bed. For the last few weeks we've resorted to standing at his door holding it slightly ajar so he sees we're there but he can't get out. He is screaming about this every night, kicking the door etc, but does eventually after 45mins-ish go to his bed and sleep. But I can't keep doing this when he's showing no signs of improvement. I'm at a complete loss and am just exhausted by this constant battle every night. Thankfully he's a brilliant kid during the day, just turns into a terror at bed time.
Apologies for the essay and if you've got to this bit, thanks for reading my plight. Am open to all and any suggestions please-I'm desperate!