2 1/2 Yr Old with Sleep Issues

Have his tonsils and adenoids looked at when he has his next doctors appointment...We had the same issue in our house and just figured it was just because no two kids are alike that they had such different sleep patterns! Our daughter didn't have strep more often than other kids but we found through a long dramatic battle with the school, that she needed to be seen by an ENT for hearing issues...the hearing issues were nonexsistant when tested at the ENT's office, but he did discover that she had larger adenoids than necessary for her body frame causing her sleep issues. Post surgery, they discovered that she had suffered from chronic tonsilitis for at least 3 years (starting at age 3). So even though we'd had her in for antibiotics every time she had strep and they were looking at her throat each time, they missed looking at the adenoids...
It's just a thought, but maybe your son at 2 1/2 is up and about because his body is telling him that laying down is not comfy....at that age, kids have a hard time knowing WHY and just do....Case in point...our daughter didn't realize what it was like to NOT have a sore throat...she just thought that was how it was suppose to feel....

Maybe you could try putting him to be 30 minutes earlier?
He IS younger after all... and it would give him a little extra time to get some of his "needs"out of the way before his brother has to go to bed. And he might be doing the singing, kicking, etc because he is OVER TIRED. The longer my son is up, the more wound up he can get sometimes.

Aside from that.. you need to consider how you are responding to his "needs" when he "comes out" (potty, tissue, water?, etc)... He doesn't need any water. REALLY. He can have a box of tissues in his room. Potty... make sure he goes once at the beginning of "bedtime routine" and then again.. last thing before bed. Is he potty trained already? The first few months of potty training success, my daughter ALWAYS popped back up to go potty 5 minutes after she went to bed. I started out going with her to "move things along" and get her back to bed. MISTAKE. It just gave her more attention, which is what she wanted. So I stopped. Just completely ignored it, unless she didn't come back out of the bathroom in a reasonable amount of time. And even then.. I only called to her from the room I was in...
Also... build into your bedtime routine with him, a point where you ask him.. "is there ANYTHING else you need before going to sleep? .. water? potty? a hug?" Get it taken care of then tell him.." okay.. no more getting out of bed until after you've been asleep." (I never wanted my kids to feel like they couldn't come to me during the night if they had a bad dream or felt ill).
HTH

you can always try this... 1st time he comes out tell him nicelyit's time for bed and bring him back in. 2nd time say bed time and walk him in, each other time he comes out walk him back to his bed without speaking. from what i hear it almost always works fairly quickly

Let him go to his room but don't battle with him to go to sleep. That was the rule in our house - he had to be in his room and stay in his room but he did not have to go to sleep right away. He could read and even play. For the first few weeks I would find him asleep on the floor but eventually, he would go to sleep closer and closer to the appropriate bedtime.

Have you tried lying down with your son until he's asleep? I know this may be tedious, but considering your eldest son can put himself to sleep, it sounds to me that what your youngest needs is simply your attention at bed and nap times.

Once he is asleep, simply sneak out and go about your business.

Good luck.

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How long of a nap does he take? Maybe shortening his nap time to an hour may make him more tired at night when it's bedtime.