2 year old sudden sleep issues - help a tired and confused mum!

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Hi everyone hoping someone might be able to offer me some advice as we’re at our wits end…

Our 2 year old daughter has always been a brilliant sleeper since day 1 and up until 3 nights ago would go down fine in her cot after her bottle or cup of milk at bed time, no fuss or arguing. All of a sudden the last 3 nights shes refusing to go to bed, won’t go anywhere near her cot and we can’t even get her down in the daytime in her cot either so we’ve had to resort to sleeps in the pram and car!
It’s so sudden and we don’t know what’s triggered it, she has also all of a sudden during these 3 nights realised she can climb out her cot and run through to our room!
We’re tearing our hair out as our once perfect sleeping and contained toddler has now become the complete opposite, it would be fine if she would sleep in between us till we can figure out a plan but she’s not even sleeping when she comes through (at 4am) and has my husband and I up from then which isn’t ideal.

Any ideas on what we can do to get her to want to go to bed without a fight, and also how to keep her in her room at night and not coming into our bed?

Any tips would be so appreciated as we’ve been blindsided by this sudden change!

TIA x

Oh I feel your pain. We’re the same (although dd has been doing this now for almost 3 months). Fuss at bedtime waking up in the night crying. All of it.

It’s exhausting.

We think it’s a combination of:

2 year sleep regression
Developmental leap
Moving from baby room to toddler room at nursery
Teething - back molars maybe
Overtired.

We’ve finally got bedtime routine down again (bath nice cup of milk while we read stories then bed) and I sit at the top of the stairs for as long as it takes. Last night it only took 10 mins.

DH was up with her at 430. And I was up at 6.

This is the best it’s been for a long time.

It’s hell but you’ll get through it. No advice really but I’m with you xx

Thanks ememem84, I think you might be right about the 2 year sleep regression (which I sadly knew nothing about so we were naively thinking our toddler was the best sleeper ever and would be forever more!), she has also not long started nursery too and we have moved house and staying with family and have moved about a lot the last few weeks so I think it’s all a bit much. We thought we had got lucky as she seemed to be coping so well but maybe it’s just catching up with us now.

Any tips on how to keep her in her room would be welcome, we thought of a stair gate but feel kind of bad to do this but really dread her coming into our bed and not going back to sleep and having us up scary early, we went through a period of 5am rises at the start of this year and just got out of it a few months ago too!

Any tips on how to keep her in her room would be welcome

Cot climbing is a behaviour issue, ratger than a sleep issue. So you're best dealing with it as you would any other unwelcome behaviour- by being very firm and strict.

I'd suggest one of you stay close by as she goes to sleep (in doorway for example). Then make the very clear rules that:

At bedtime she must

• lie down in her cot
• Be quiet

Then do not accept anything else. As soon as she even sits up literally immediately, it must be rapid responce) - go to her, lie her down and repeat your expectations.

Repeat a million times until she realises that there is no alternate.

Dd hasn’t started climbing out of her cot yet. Yet being the operative word here.

So far it’s been 45 minutes and she’s not asleep yet. I think she’s gone off and she screams. Ffs. Toddlers.