Bedtime routines for 2.5 year old to allow her to settle herself like a 'big girl'

[Frokni]

Hi everyone,

My LO is 2.5 and will have a nap of no more than 1.5 hours (usually less) 4-5 times a week. She goes to bed around 7.30/8 but takes ages (up to an hour at times) to drift off. She moved to a toddler bed so she gets up if we leave the room, so we (foolishly) sit in the room until she falls asleep. Until that toddler bed came along we could lie her down and walk out the room and she not make a peep

I know I can adopt the putting them back to bed each time they get out teachnique as it's been a success for mums I know. But, my question is: is there anyone out there who has a settling routine for their child of a similar age that gives them (the child) more autonomy in how they settle? I.e. allow them to look at books on their own, fancy galaxy night lights, classical music etc. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, I just don't want to jump into putting her into bed 50 times in one night as she is not hyper or full of beans or naughty late at night so I just need some ideas. I want her to feel grown up I guess as her sibling will be born in Oct :-D

Has anyone done a different type of technique that back fired?

Thanks so much mum's
F x

Sorry no advice, watching with interest as DD is a similar age but still in her cot.

When DD moved to a bed and the Dummy Fairy came to visit, we got her a CD player in her room. She loved listening to classical music and it gave her a reason to stay put, and took the pressure off a bit I think: no sudden silence, darkness, etc.

She's also had various nightlights over the years. She's 6 now and pretty much pleases herself at bedtime.

Ours 'read' books or play with their teddies/dolls. Provided they aren't tearing the room (or each other) apart its fine by us how they settle.

Is she getting enough sleep, not tired or grumpy by the end of the day?

She's getting a lot less sleep than my 2y7m old, but some babies are just like that.

An option is to put the cot sides back on. None of my children were ready for a bed until past their 3rd birthday.

Watching with interest.

I have a 2yr 9m old DS who we have to sit with at night unless he is absolutely exhausted then we can dump and run.
He doesn't nap in day much anymore, couple of times a week for 30-45mins, usually only if he's woken up ridiculously early. He would quite happily nap for a couple of hours every day, but he just won't go to sleep at night.

We had to take sides off his cot about 18months as he kept climbing out and getting hurt. He wakes during the night and gets in our bed til morning. Sometimes at 11pm sometimes more like 5am.
Thinking maybe of buying him a proper single bed to see if the space helps him sleep through instead of getting in our bed.

Wow guys thanks for such quick responses and to know I am not alone.

Just to add a bit more info: LO is 98th percentile in height so cot just couldn't stay for much longer :-D in all she probably gets around 10-11 hours sleep in 24 hours and interestingly if the snooze is skipped it only helps a bit. Average settle time is 30 minutes so maybe up to bedroom at 7.30 and maybe a fun light for her and I to read by, maybe try to give her reading time and she can have her milk in sports bottle on her own for a few.

It's so tricky as she loves coming into bed with us, being pregnant with a toddler who is all legs makes it hard to get comfy! I hope that if she associates settling with a night light or music it could help the midnight or 1am or 3am mad wake ups she has!

Mum's in the same place as me: what are you thinking after a few suggestions?
Thanks mum's for your input, please keep it coming
F x

Just realised poor grammar in initial (end of the day, ya know) LO naps during the day most days and gets around 9-10 hours at night with 1 wake up in between at random time of night

Hope that makes more sense x