Help child deal with tiredness

[YouTarzanMeJane]

Does anyone have any tips on helping my 17 month old understand and come to terms with the concept of tiredness? I am wondering whether this is a bit of an autistic trait? She is VERY resistant to sleep and will fight it to the point of getting very upset. She will cry and clutch her head in her hands like she doesn’t understand what is going on and will sometimes lash out and bite or hit things and I am worried she is going to hurt herself badly. It’s horrible to watch but just trying to soothe her to sleep doesn’t seem to be more than a temporary fix and the same thing happens again the next day.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

My 10yo still has to have sleep sneak up on her. So does DH. We're all autistic in our house!

I let her play quietly in bed. Lots of quiet toys, low light. And she goes early, to allow for it. I've done it since she was maybe one. It doesn't hurt anyone, so why not?

Sorry if this sounds obvious, but do you have a bedtime routine, with quiet wind down time before bed? Mine all enjoyed watching "in the night garden", or bedtime story book, having some milk, low lights and then into their cot with a night light on. They don't necessarily sleep right away but they do learn that's it's quiet cot time .

My DD 21 months is like this with her dad and sometimes her grandmother when she is really overtired.

Not with me but I think that's because I still breastfeed her to sleep.

I think the previous posters query about the quiet time/bed time routine/low lights is a good point. Have you heard of sleep hygiene?

What are your little ones naps like at the moment?