Please help- 2yr 9month old

[AHGiraffe]

My daughter takes ages to get to sleep every night. We have bath, stories etc but then have to sit on her floor next to her for 2 hours or more. All the advice online says gradually move away…that’s all very well but she just gets out of her bed?! She doesn’t nap in the day at nursery, if with us she may fall asleep in car out and about but it honestly has no bearing on how the night will go.

How do we change this? I keep wondering about Ruth watts health visitor guide for £5 but honestly if it just says a routine and gradual retreat like everything else I’ve read then I’d prefer to spend the £5 on chocolate!

Make sure any furniture in her room is safely tethered so she can't pull it on herself and put a gate on the door. Keep the room really boring - no exciting toys, just a couple of cuddlies and books. Baby gate on door.

Put her to bed as normal. Sit on the floor for ten mins or so, then say you are going to get a drink and will be back in a minute and leave. Have a few mins and then go back. If she's out of bed (she will be) take her back and sit for a few more mins and then repeat. Always go back, take her back to bed, say you'll check her again soon and then leave again. It builds trust that you are coming back, and then you can gradually extend how long you are out of the room for before returning. Eventually you'll go back and she'll be asleep. It doesn't matter if she's out of bed or falls asleep on the floor, just don't make a big deal of it.

That sounds incredibly exhausting, and you’re definitely not alone in experiencing this. Gradual retreat doesn’t work for every child, especially when they’re determined to get out of bed. A calm, consistent approach with gently returning them each time can help, although it often takes patience and persistence before you see lasting changes.

A bath at bedtime always made DS more awake and alert and would take him longer to go to sleep.

Perhaps that’s not helping.