2yo refusing ALL sleep, no idea what to do

[potentialdogowner]

Need desperate help with my 2yo. From a year old he always slept well, into cot awake and fell asleep independently and slept through (I know this is lucky, my oldest has always been a poor sleeper).

But for the last 4/5 days he has been refusing ALL sleep. He used to nap a couple hours in his cot, or a shorter one in the car if out. But now he just hysterically screams when it’s sleep time - if he’s tired and in the car he just screams (did a 30 mins drive other day to try at nap time and he screamed whole time), he won’t go in his cot and is climbing out, he won’t lie in our bed with us he just screams and runs away.

Today he was so tired after nursery (refused nap there too) he fell asleep eating dinner at 5pm, so we tried for a 6pm bedtime. Offered him cot or our bed, he just wanders around saying no (not much language).

Eventually I put him in his cot and just kept him there, me sat next to him so he couldn’t climb out and offering reassurance or hugs. He just pushes me away and has been currently doing this awful screaming crying for 1 hr and 25 mins.

Literally at a loss what to do. The times he has slept the last few days at bedtime has been when he’s worked himself up so much that he eventually lets us guide him to our bed and lie and sleep there. But bedtime is taking hours, and then he wakes early, and then refuses his nap he is chronically overtired now.

But I’m literally at a loss what to do. Like I said I’ve had a bad sleeper before, but nothing like this sudden change of behaviour.

To add, he’s fine in the day - doesn’t seem ill. Just a bit grumpy from tiredness. We have had a general escalation in tantrums about really random things too.

Help please, anyone.

Hmm, my first thought was molars coming through? Have you tried calpol to see if it helps him at night time? He might just be too in pain to relax and gets massively overtired hence the screaming. I could be barking up the entirely wrong tree but that would be the first thing I’d try

Thank you, we have tried Calpol last few nights. It doesn’t seem to help. what’s is confusing me is that is seems that any sign of sleep he just fights it. I literally can’t believe he’s been screaming for almost two hours now, it’s so unlike him. And I don’t know whether to carry on with him in the cot and us next to him, or to get him out. But I can’t have his bedtime routine become ‘scream for an hour and eventually give in and sleep in parents bed’. I don’t know why he won’t just accept a cuddle or our bed straight away, why he has to get himself so worked up first. In tears over it all as feel so helpless.

I also first thought molars, although I'd try ibuprofen rather than Calpol as I found that worked better. But half an hour before you start bedtime so it's got a chance to work.

Sounds exhausting and stressful 😢 can you take the side off his cot, put a baby gate on the door of the room, wall tie any furniture and remove anything interesting and take your book up. He can cuddle or potter or sleep on the floor if he wants, and you're there but very boring?

I’ll check molars in the morning - it could well be, but he doesn’t seem in pain in the day, jisy cries at nap and bedtime.

For anyone else reading this, he has finally given in after 2 hours 30 mins of crying/screaming. I stayed with him the whole time and he eventually lay down and just fell asleep.

im completly done in though, in tears next to him, and don’t know how I’m going to cope with it all again tomorrow 😢

I’d try Calpol and ibuprofen half an hour before bed time as pp suggested.
Is he pooing as normal as they can be uncomfortable if they’ve a bit of constipation?
If you played with him upstairs or he watched some CBeebies would he just nod off where he is? Then he’d fall asleep without the crying and hopefully be less tired tomorrow.
Would more exercise help? Such as a short walk round the block before bed.
I’ve a bad sleeper and a good sleeper. When the good sleeper won’t sleep it’s because she’s ill or in pain. The bad sleeper never sleeps without a fight

Thank you, I’ll try calpol before bed tomorrow. I think he started refusing nap/bedtime for some reason and now it’s just snowballed as he’s so overtired. I think he gets enough exercise and outside time, as we go for a walk everyday. And his toiletting seems normal too.

I’ve always just gone with the flow with the many regressions / changes with my kids, but this one just totally stumps me as it seems whatever I do doesn’t work. I’d like to try what pp said and proof room etc, but unfortunately he shares with his brother and was disturbing his sleep, so I put a travel cot up in our room to give us options and that’s where he is now.

I’ll try and update tomorrow to help anyone else going through similar.

Well to update, today has gone better. Managed to lie with him in our bed for his nap (took 15 mins to fall asleep), and the same again for bedtime (in there for 45 mins..). No crying! Really hope he gets over this soon and we can get him back in his cot.