Help. 18m old getting out of bed

[itsfreeeeeeezing1234]

Hey. Pleas help an exhausted mumma. For the last two days and nights our 18m old son just will not go to sleep. It took four hours to get him to finally stay in his bed last night and fall asleep and today's nap took 3 hours. He just gets out of his bed when we close the door and stair gate and will open the door and just stand there or shout. He thinks it's a game when I go in in silence to lay him down again. It's draining. Is this sleep regression? He normally goes down without a fight and never gets out of bed. Thanks x

Is there a reason he's already out of a cot OP? Might be better to put him back in one till he's old enough to understand?

@Forrandomposts he's in his cot but with the side off and a rail guard up as he gets out over the top and has injured himself so it's safer for him like this xx

I mean if it's honestly taking that long, stop fighting it.
3&4 hours to sleep is hard going.

How long has the cot side been off?

@PinkMoon22 about 2 months and we had no problems before now xx

So it took 3 hours to get him down for his nap, what time did he actually fall asleep and for how long?
Because he's probs not tired at all come his normal bed time if he's having a nap 3 hours later than normal

What's your current schedule? Awake time, nap time (and length), bedtime and bedtime routine? At this age he shouldn't be sleeping after 3pm as sleep after 3 is very deep and restorative - it basically gives them too much energy for night time.

Current sleep routine is wake up 0630
Nap 11-1
Bed at 6:45pm
It's been working really well!!! Xxx

@123FishAlive he usually naps 11 till 1 but today because of the battle it was 2-3, never let him sleep past 3 I'm very strict with that! X

There are no easy answers but as he gets older he will cope without an afternoon nap if he still refuses to sleep.

I think if he does it again tomorrow I would leave him to try for an hour (not crying of course but just telling him it's quiet time even if he won't sleep) then after an hour regardless of whether he slept, take him out. He will be exhausted by night time hopefully and will sleep.

It's been a long time since mine were little so I can't remember when they gave up afternoon naps but I think it was around that age.

As for the evening I would keep doing what you have always done and hope it's a quick phase.

If it's only been a couple of days it's not a habit yet. It might also be time to push his bedtime back a tiny bit. If he sleeps in the afternoon, you could push his bedtime back to 7:15 and see if that helps. Sounds like it might just be the next phase and you'll need some tweaks

@snowdropsandcrocuses Thankyou so much. It possibly is the best phase- I will try and tweak his bedtime tonight and see what happens. Xxx

If he’s taking that long to fall asleep then he’s not ready for a nap.

@FelicityPike he was definitely ready. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning but just kept getting out of bed as he thought it was a game.

At that age I remember finding it quite difficult for my dc to put themselves to sleep at nap time, even though they had been doing it before. You might find putting him down at 12.30 is better at that age, after lunch, and waking him after 2 hours.
It also might be worth offering a bit of support to sleep at nap time, as this is the age where they start to fight that last nap until they drop it. By the time my DC was 2 I could only do the lunch nap in the car and then it went completely.

Remember it's all just a phase, and it will pass