Refusing to Go to Bed

Keep on doing what you are doing, and don' t give in, it will get less and less every night. If you give in one time, it will start over again. She is just testing how serious you are about her bed time.

I suggest removing the gate, sitting on the floor or in a chair in your child's room with the door slightly cracked. Allow him/her a little more autonomy. If all the lights are out in that area of your house and you or you and your husband are in the room, your child will eventually stay in there and have more autonomy (being 2 and all). If your child wants to sit with you let him/her do so and when they get sleepy encourage him/her to crawl into bed. This has been working for us with same age child.

My daughter is also 27 months old and sometimes have the same issue. Is she in a toddler bed now? Sounds like it if you have the baby gate. Maybe she feels a sense of being a big girl with the bed but still "trapped" with the baby gate? just a thought. We have a little music machine in her bed that we got at Target, it looks like a turtle, and she has had it since she was born. It plays for 10 minutes and she is usually out by then. She can come in our room, I think the option make her feel safe if she needs her Mom or Dad. But I will sit with her for 5 minutes or so while she gets comfy and starts to dose with the music. It also could be that she wasnt emotionally ready for the big girl bed. Try some different things, see what works. Hope this info was helpful.

Hi K.-
We have a 27 month old also and SOOOO are going through this right now!! We had the easy night routine and all of a sudden naps and bedtime became a huge battle. She seems to need less sleep than before- she used to be a 7:30 pm to 7:00 am sleeper with a 3 hour nap and now we are at 8:00- 6:00/6:30 consistently with a two hour nap. It has gotten easier when we started to put her to bed a little later, but there were nights when she was up for over an hour either playing/singing in bed or trying to manipulate us by getting out of bed. She has become very smart in her manipulations- I want milk, change my diaper, cover me up, etc and my husband TOTALLY falls for it. Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to get up too. I always just walk her back in her room and lay her on her bed and try not to interact with at all other than the firm "stay in your bed it's night night time".

I have locked her in her room when she kept coming out (she cried when she could open the door, but went back to her bed) and then unlocked it once she fell asleep. I only had to do that 2-3 times and she stopped trying to get out.

I honestly think she (mine, not yours) is just testing her limits- newfound independence and trying to see what she can get away with, and all that. And she doesn't want to miss out on anything. Also, I don't think it ocurred to her until recently that she keep herself awake, and she's testing that out too.

Good luck, and let me know what works for you- I'll give it a try! :)

She doesn't have a fever? Not teething? No change in routine, unexpected visitor that sort of thing? How much time are you spending with her? Is she getting enough mommy and daddy time? Does she nap at school? The nap at school might be the problem. Between two and three they stop needing the nap, but might need more sleep at night, up to 15 hours...
good luck
R.

She's 2 years old...they start to protest sleep and naps and they are also in the "terrible 2" phases. But yet, they do still get tired and fussy/grumpy. They do best to have a nap. Does your girl still nap? She may be overtired.

here some links for suggestions:
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/growth/sleep/sleep12yr.html
http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm02/fs09.html
http://www.medem.com/search/article_display.cfm?path=n:&a...
http://www.cincymoms.com/f/ShowThread.aspx?tid=28001&...

When my daughter was that age, I still enforced a nap, but "let" her decide where. She would then often decide to sleep on the living room floor, cuddled up with her blankets etc. It was fine with me, as it got her to nap. It also helped, that I would let her take her favorite stuffed toys with her to sleep... she called it her "nest." She would say...."I have to make my nest first..." then she would go about getting her cuddly blankets and stuffed toys, arrange it next to her, then lay down in the middle of it all. And then she would nap! I would sit on the sofa nearby, and not speak or interact with her... I just kept "quiet" and let her go about making her "nest." I would read a magazine and I also told her I would not play with her at that time, since she was napping.

I picked my battles... but got more creative about "how" she slept... and then she would nap. I didn't insist that it HAD to be IN her BED and stay there. Then at night of course...well she slept in her bed, or co-slept with us. Ha, ha.

But, it is a phase. They will segue into better sleep habits.
She's 2... and a girl... and they don't want to nap or sleep = protesting = drama. LOL.

I know it's not easy. But routine, and routine, and routine and consistency works.

Even in preschool or Kindergarten...they have a nap time for the children. A nap might do her well.

Good luck,
~Susan
www.cafepress.com/littlegoogoo

Hi, I just had the same problem due to transitioning my 32 month old to a bed - holy moly was it tough.
For about a month - coming out, crying, playing, passing out around midnight - we were so exhausted and sooooooooo frustrated. We started putting her down a little earlier so she passed out earlier...put up the baby gate...about one tired month later she just gave in and started going to bed at a decent hour. She goes to bed at 8 and falls asleep around 9 but I'll keep it compared to midnight. Advice - hang in there and be patient, she will get back to her routine. I didn't believe it when given the advice but it finally happenend. Good luck, C.
Ps - also when we put the gate up, she seems to feel more secure, when it is down she thinks it is play all night time

Hi K.,

She's at the stage where she sees that she is a separate person from her parents and when she goes to a room alone she's afraid you're gone forever. Be very understanding and patient. Don't let her just cry because that teaches her that she has no power to control her own needs. Maybe a special night light and just sit reading softly to her or telling her special stories where she is the main character (made up or real) until she falls asleep. She's just afraid to "let go" right now but this is a phase.

V.

K. -

I just went through this with my 27 month old...he was doing the same thing. His doctor told me that it was normal and that it is a phase they go through...simply stated he is 2 and is testing his independence. Hang in there it only lasted a couple of weeks...the important thing is to make sure you stick with the routine. Also his doctor told me not to let him sleep any longer then he would normally do during nap and to wake him up at the same time he would get up in the morning.

try one night to let her cry. because my dauther after cry in her bed for five minutes she sleep like angel.

Hi K.,
your daughter found a week spot, what happen was you are giveing into her doing this, out of guilt, it only takes one time for you to go pick her up let her stay up, then she cried you went back and now its her way of saying ha ha I get my way because I know how to throw a fit get my own way. The rule is if she is throwing a fit now at bed time, its going to take three nights of you going into her room picking her up only saying to her its bed time, putting her back in bed, do not say another word walk out, if she gets up again, do not say a word walk in take her by the hand put her back to bed, do not say a word, this time she will cry and cry , do not go back, unless she gets up. then repeat she might fight for three nights doing this, on the fourth night it stops, she will go right to bed, if you give in once just once you have to start all over again, Your the boss, I know it hurts to let your baby cry, it does, but if this is what you want her to do , and is best for her, then you have to stick to it.

Good Luck

Hello there. Believe me when I say that my husband and I went throug the exact same thing with our 2 year old son for a while. He would go to bed just fine and then all of a sudden WAM!!! So, we tried the baby gate to. We have tried everything.

Have you ever seen super nanny? Well I watch it for some ideas when it comes to my son. She has this bedtime routine for kids. It does work, I promise, but you have to stick with it. But, it can be difficult, tiring, and frustrating at times. Here it is: stick with your routine you have with your daughter. Then when it is time for lights out, tuck her in, tell her is time to go to bed, give kisses etc. then leave the room. She will probably cry and come out of her room. When she comes out of the room, gently say to her, "time for bed" and walk her back to her bed. She will most likely get up again. On the third time, tell her its time for bed like you are serious and mean business.( Not so nice this time. There after, every time she gets out of bed, no matter what she does, ignore her and walk her back to bed. Don't talk to her or ackwnolwege her in anyway.
The point is, she is looking for attention aand any way to stall. If you do this. I promise it will work, but it does not happen over night. If you do it, you will probably second guess yourself like we did. But, no matter what, stick to it. I also added in a reward chart for our son too. I made a sticker chart and wrote down 2 or 3 rules (one of which was stay in bed. Everytime he followed the rules he got a sticker. When he reached a certain amount he would get a reward (whatever you choose). I would remind him every night that if he stayed in bed, he would get a sticker in the morning. It took a week or two for him to catch on. Needless to say, he stays in bed and reminds me every morning that he gets a sticker for staying in bed.

Hope this helps.

D