Not sleeping

My 2 year has never been a great sleeper. But the past couple of weeks he has really been fighting nap and bed time. It takes 1-2 hours to get him to sleep and his bed time has gotten later and later. He struggles to go asleep on his own and wakes up multiple times a night. we have tried literally everything from adjusting wake windows to Ferber method— everything but extinction and nothing has seemed to stick with him. We have a regular routine, sound machine, etc. what is your little ones’ sleep schedule? Are they still taking regular naps? Any advice at all to help everyone get more sleep would be wonderful.

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I had been putting my son to bed since he was born, but when I had a minor surgery in Sept, we discovered my husband could put him down in 15 min when it was taking me 1-2 hours. He can do it for naps too, even if it's off schedule. I call it his superpower. If you are grasping at straws, try that. My son still prefers to have me do it (he cries for mommy when we do the hand off) but he cannot resist my husband's broad chest and truly boring stories. 🤣

We’ve tried that as well but he absolutely hates for my hubby to do it and the hubby gives up real quick before handing him back off 🙄

I dont give my little one a choice. At 1:00pm it’s nap time. We go upstairs he pees, close the black out curtain, turns the speaker on , and he gets the in bed. If he cries, I let him. The door is closed and bedroom is childproofed. He cries for about 5 min and is knocked out. It’s routine now! Even with bedtime @8:30 ! Same routine but with a bath, book reading, and prayers. Cries a bit and then knocked out. I learned to deal with the crying because it doesn’t last long. They are tired but just fighting it.

@JNyah is your little one still in a crib? We had to move ours to a regular bed as he was able to climb out. So he’s constantly getting up and banging on things/crying. Trying to get adjusted to the crying without getting angry has been hard for sure

@Hannah no, he has been in a twin bed since 18months. Yes, they will do that because they want your attention. Man these little ones are incredibly smart. We dont keep lots of toys in the room so it minimizes distraction. Try to put things away so there’s not much to mess with. Try letting him cry for like 5 min and see. Sometimes you may have to wait like 10. after that, if he is still crying, I will go in there reassure him that everything is OK. Kiss him and tell him that its time for a nap. Pick him up and place him in the bed and close the door. You might have to keep putting them in the bed a few times so that he understands that it’s bedtime or nap time. if you keep putting him in the bed after he keeps coming out of it … it will show him that you’re not taking no for an answer and then shut the door. don’t be too sweet because they eat all of that. Keep a straight face.

it may take a few days, but eventually, he will get it. And try to keep the same two different songs/white noise everyday for nap time and for bedtime. We use a specific song for nap time and a specific song for bedtime. So he knows when he hears that music it’s time to go to sleep. Make sure it’s dark in the room.

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