Toddler only sleeping for 7/8 hours a night

[NotBehindTheRadiatorPlease]

Hi all. DD, who was two in March, has aways been a mixed bag with sleep. Goes through periods where she sleeps great, and then periods where it's not so great.

Over the past couple of weeks, she's started flatly refusing to go to sleep until 9/10pm and then waking up at 5am. Every. Single. Morning. We try and get her to sleep earlier but she just screams and tantrums.

She doesn't nap in the day either. Much as we try to get her to, again she cries and screams. So she's going through the day on 7/8 hours of sleep. That's nowhere near enough for a toddler right?

We did think it might be the brighter evenings and mornings so we bought blackout curtains for her room. They've made exactly zero difference. We also stop all screen time for two hours before bed, and don't have much in the day either in case it's hyping her up, but again it's made no difference. We've stuck to the same bedtime routine we've always had.

Is this the dreaded two year sleep regression? She seems perfectly happy in the day despite the lack of sleep, if a little tired!

Thank you

Is she in a cot or a bed? What happens after she has gone to bed, when she is refusing to go to sleep? What are you/DP doing during this time, what is she doing?

@FATEdestiny she's in a bed. We'll get her ready for bed, put her in bed and tell her goodnight. As soon as we leave the room she will start crying and get out of bed. We'll tell her it's bedtime and put her back in bed. As soon as we leave she cries and gets out of bed again. Rinse and repeat for 2/3 hours!

When we're in the room with her she's laughing and smiling, but as soon as we leave the room she freaks.

Could she be a bit too hot/cold? Our toddler went through a nightmare phase of waking up a lot and it turned out his sleeping bag was too thick and it largely changed when we put him in a lighter one

What if you sit in a chair in her room and wait for her to fall asleep before you leave?

@smeerf if we're in the room with her it hypes her up and she wants to play!

Toddlers are not psychologically ready for a bed until after 3rd birthday, they need the cot sides. Moving to a bed too early has definitely not helped (there are several significantly better ways to deal with cot climbing than swapping to a bed). How recently did you change? If within a few months then I'd bring the cot back and deal with the behaviour issue from there.

This is fixable.

It's a behaviour issue , rather than a sleep issue. I can help with it though.

Many parents mistake being hyper (due to cortisol and adrenaline) for not being tired. In actual fact being hyper and "playful" is in itself a sign of sleep deprivation.