2 year old and bedtime!

[jodielea123]

Hi everyone,

First time posting on mumsnet but I'm at the end of my tether, so hoping some lovely people here can help me out.

My little boy has just turned 2. At around 18 months he was fantastic at going to sleep of a nighttime. He would have a bath, followed by cuddles and placed into his bed at about 7pm and he'd drift off to sleep within 20 minutes.

However, for the past 2 months his ability to go to sleep seems to have disappeared. He has the same evening routine but now I have to stay with him until he falls asleep. This can take up to 2 hours and it's really starting to take an effect on me and my partner. He asks for cuddles all the time and screams when you put him down into bed. Cuddles do not send him to sleep either, he just attaches himself like a limpet.

My partner works weird and wonderful shifts, he is either on nights or having to go to bed for 8pm for day shifts. Meaning that if our LO is taking over 2 hours to go to sleep, we don't get to see each other (he doesn't get home until 6pm!).

Its really getting us down. So I'm hoping for some advice.
Do we stop his naps? He currently has around an hour between 1pm and 2pm.
He attends nursery 4 days a week, with a set of grandparents one day and with me at the weekend. He is constantly busy.

It's driving me and my partner apart, it's like I have a housemate.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you x

G

What time is he getting up? How long is his nap?

Sounds like he needs less sleep. How much does he sleep in a 24hr window? Probably need to shorten or remove the nap.

Stop the naps! Yes it's a bit 'early' (for the average by the book child), but this is exactly what my LO did at 2yr 3mnths ish - but it took me 3 months to realise it was the bloody nap that ruined bedtime. He is now 7-7 no problems - but we do have to prod him awake if we are in the car after 3pm lol!

@Changeiscomingthisyear he normally wakes around 7am, when I need to get him ready etc. He usually naturally wakes at this time as well.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers I'd say on average he gets around 13 hours in a 24 hour period, which is think is average for 2 year olds? (not 100% sure tho!)

@TheEnglishSystemSucks 7-7 sounds like a dream! Did you find it hard stopping LOs naps? Lol, I do that now. He's a pain for dropping off in the car haha!

Thanks everyone x

God my 2.5 year old is going through this at the moment, constant screaming and 2hr bedtimes, even though she was previously fine. I’m wondering about nap time/separation anxiety etc., esp as her little sister is due next week, dreading what effect that will have on her! Best of luck to us both

Definitely cut the nap! He clearly isn't tired. It will be hard for a few days and he may even have to go to bed quite early, but you should see a difference.good luck

We've just been through the exact same thing with our 2.5 year old! She was a great sleeper but went through this phase. We stopped naps, bought her a Yoto player to listen to as she fell asleep, and did some sleep training for a few days. She's much more settled now and sleeps more deeply than she has in months.

@jodielea123 we had maybe a week where the last hour before bedtime was a bit fraught - but he's much better now.

You can always trial it for a bit and truly see if he still needs the nap - it's not an all or nothing scenario.

So they say 12-13 hrs sleep at that age- some need more some need less. But if that’s what he does then either wake up earlier or cull the nap.

i had one child who napped until 3.5 and one that dropped the nap at 23 months- all diff.