19mo taking over an hour to go to sleep

[BringMeThatHorizon]

My 19mo DS is taking over an hour to go to sleep every night. Getting him to bed is now taking over every evening and leaving no time for anything else.

He's up in the morning at around 7.30am. Nap at 12.45/1pm (he won't go down earlier than this, no matter what time he wakes up in the morning) for around 1.5-2hrs. So usually awake by 2.30/3pm. We do a bath time, milk, cuddles and into bed, same routine every night. He's usually in his cot by 8pm. There are blackout blinds up so it's as dark as we can make it. He'll lie there quietly and play with his dummy, wriggle around, drum his fingers on the mattress etc. He's just wide awake. If I attempt to leave the room he's instantly standing up screaming his head off shouting for me.

Do I just accept that he's not tired enough for bed until 9pm-ish and just deal with it? Or do I need to limit his day time nap? He's so miserable if he's woken early from this though that it makes the whole afternoon/evening really hard work.

Exactly the same here but my daughter just turned 16 months. It's a nightmare. Literally don't have an evening x

My 17 month old has just fallen asleep in my arms now... Her bedtime is supposed to be 7pm!!

Mine is a bit older at just turned 3 but she has slept from 6pm since she was around 12 weeks. After she turned 1 she started taking longer to fall asleep if she napped during the day so I cut it out completely. Even now if she has just 10 minutes nap during the day it can take an hour to get her to sleep. She slept for 10 minutes earlier today and it has just took me 2 and a half hours to get her to fall asleep. If she doesn't have a nap she falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow but even 5/10 minutes is and has been for the past 2 years enough so if you feel able to drop the nap I would.

Taking some comfort from the fact that I'm not alone in this! Finding it so frustrating!

9mo usually asleep by 7. He's still fighting it now

He's not 9mo he's 10mo

I could have written this. Just turned 17 months and as soon as she’s in her cot she thinks it’s play time.
If I try and leave, she screams. If I stay, she screams to be picked up then wants to run around the room.
I keep saying it’s a phase but we’re now on week 4 with no end in sight

I know it's so incredibly frustrating. I think it's the up and down and the constant trying to put them to bed palava which drains me the most. Mine used to be a really good sleeper from 8 weeks old and then since about 10 months she's not slept the same. Could he be over tired? What are his naps like? My dd is currently still having 2 naps during the day which she needs as I've tried to cut one out but it just doing work she ends up being too overtired come bedtime. I've tried the whole settle down for an hour before bedtime routine also and that doesn't make a difference to how she goes down at bedtime. It's bedtime battles and part of me just thinks it's their way of testing the boundaries? Lol! Nightmare x

My 18 month old has never settled himself to sleep in his cot. He is cuddled/rocked/sang to for naps and bedtimes. Would that work for you?
Funnily enough he can settle himself if he wakes during the night so I’m not worried about making a rod for my own back.

Mine doesn't self settle either. She used to as a baby then the older she got I have to lie beside her. It doesn't bother be as most nights she's asleep within 5 minutes but nights like tonight when I'm lying for 2 and a half hours does get frustrating.

Reduce the length of the nap. Only thing that worked for us.

And soon after 2, we had to drop them entirely and only then did bedtime become tolerable.

But he's been in a normal bed since 14 mo and I stay beside him.

How did you get on tonight OP? Any better?

My daughter is 2 and sleeps in a bed rather than a cot. She fights every night , most nights it's 2 hours before she finally goes to sleep after screaming, crying, laughing , getting up and I have to sit in the room on the floor or she is straight out of bed! This isn't a new thing either and I'm exhausted. Also she definitely isn't getting the recommended sleep she needs. I've tried everything.

I could have written OPs post! My 14 month old is a nightmare at the moment to settle at bedtime & naptime. She sleeps through the night thankfully but it is taking up to 2 hrs to settle her to sleep. She is so wired. I’ve tried extending her wind down period before bed but no joy. So frustrating as you say as you just don’t get an evening! I’m back to work in a few weeks so that’s going to be fun...