My 2 year old will not nap and will not sleep longer than 7 hours at night. (wakes up, infant)
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I'm losing it! He won't nap...gave it up about 2 weeks ago.
His bedtime is 8 pm, but usually doesn't go down until 10...we do the don't talk, put back in bed thing but 2 hours a night of it is driving me insane. He wakes up at 5:30-6 every single day.
I'm convinced there's something wrong with him.
Any suggestions? This nighttime routine has been going on for 3 months now.
Are you sure your child needs the sleep? My son was like that, still is. He doesn't sleep a lot, isn't cranky and gets up before us, 6 am every day. My DD OTOH sleeps 12-13 hours a night.
Consider a slightly different view. He's getting the sleep he needs, and nothing more.
So consider that he may not need to sleep as long as you do, but he needs to allow your sleep.
For my kids, this went like this:
"It's time for bed. You don't have to go to sleep. You don't even have to be in bed. If you want, you can stay up and play quietly until you are tired. Then go to bed. But you need to stay in your room except to go to the bathroom or get help."
Yes, my kids tried to stay up late, and my four-year-old will often stay up an extra hour or so. But they are learning to manage their sleep, and we point out the consequences when they stay up too late. They still have to get up on time. Still have to go to school.
Also, establishing a strong bedtime routine helps set their mind's expectation that it is bed time and makes them sleepy.
Hi there! You may want to try a putting him to bed much earlier (he may be overtired and experiencing a second wind around 7pm that fires him up until later). And his body is likely used to waking at 6ish. I would have dinner at 5, go straight to bath, read him a book, rock him and put him in bed by 6pm. That gives him a full 12 hours. The more peaceful and quiet the hour before is, the more likely he'll be ready. Also, try a nap earlier (again, he may be ready at 10/10:30 am but be getting a second wind if kept up after that). Good luck!
Has he always been like this? Even as an infant?
Have you tried dialing back his 8 o'clock bedtime to 7:40 for a few days, then back 20 minutes more?
I think 8 pm is a bit on the late side for a 2 year old. 7-7:30 is a better bet, and besides, if he's going to drag things on for a bit, why not start earlier, for your sanity?
As an infant, he would nap twice a day, at about 2 hours a pop, and sleep 10 hours a night or so.
Lately, he's been falling asleep as soon as we get in the car, around 2:30 to pick up his sisters. He'll sleep for 30-40 mins in the car, but I'd really like for him to take a nap in his own bed.
His room is nice and dark during the day, so that's not really an issue.
I'm thinking perhaps he's not getting the outside time he used to. We recently moved to Wyoming from TX and it's been so darned cold out we're not able to get out like we used to. He's full of energy, and always has been, but up until this move he was a good sleeper.
His sisters (6 and 7) go to bed at 8 and wake around 7, and I almost always have to drag them out of bed.
Perhaps I need to switch up the routine at night a bit....
I think we all have a bit of cabin fever right now.
My sons been giving us a really hard time since he started taking meds that make him very hyper so I know how trying this can be. We had gotten a little lax in his bedtime routine but since the problems started we have gone back to having a very structured routine. We give him a bath (try to resist the urge to make it too playful) then he brushes his teeth, gets a massage with lotion, PJ's, he puts his "babies" to bed and gets to pick one to sleep with him. Once he is laying in bed he gets to pick which book he wants a story from, if he was good the night before he gets to read 2 stories. Then I kiss him and leave, here is where the stuggle starts since he's just too awake and now he knows I'm about to leave. If I go to leave or I've already left and he tries to get out of bed, first I tell him if he doesn't lay down and stay down he's only going to get 1 story the next night. If he does it again, I threaten to turn off the lights (he really hates this one) so it usually ends there. He sits in bed with a sour face but he doesn't get up again and will usually fall asleep fairly soon. If he is still giving me trouble it's lights out and door closed, he can cry if he wants to but i'm not going back in there. He knows I mean business as this is also what he did when he was even smaller and I'm not going to give in.
Just stand your ground, a little crying never hurt anyone. My son has a medical condition that can be pretty scary so I try not to stress him out (which is a trigger) but I'm not going to be a doormat either. I figure the more consistant the less stress, if I was constantly giving in he would be more stressed out trying to figure out why I'm NOT giving in on the days I don't want to deal with it.
And as far as waking up at 6am, I think this is pretty normal. Maybe your daughter is the odd one that doesn't wake up early but "sleeping in" is not really a normal toddler activity, the world is just too exciting at that age.
I'm thinking perhaps he's not getting the outside time he used to. We recently moved to Wyoming from TX and it's been so darned cold out we're not able to get out like we used to. He's full of energy, and always has been, but up until this move he was a good sleeper.
I think you are on to something with this. I read somewhere when I was struggling with dd's sleep issues that getting outside in the morning is a very important factor in setting and regulating one's internal clock and getting good sleep. If you can, try to get him outside in the morning, even if it's only for 15 minutes or so. The info that I read also said to avoid TV in the morning and in the evening as the artificial light messes with people's sleep cycles.
I'd also just let him nap in the car. It may not be ideal but if he can get a Nap in it's better then nothing. Hopefully things will get better as the weather warms up. Good luck.
I'm losing it! He won't nap...gave it up about 2 weeks ago.
His bedtime is 8 pm, but usually doesn't go down until 10...we do the don't talk, put back in bed thing but 2 hours a night of it is driving me insane. He wakes up at 5:30-6 every single day.
I'm convinced there's something wrong with him.
Any suggestions? This nighttime routine has been going on for 3 months now.
Does he need more sleep than that? Just because you want him to sleep more it doesn't mean that he actually needs more sleep. People's sleep needs vary.
My oldest has always needed a lot of sleep. My youngest also. My middle son never needed as much sleep as his brothers. They are all healthy but many weekend nights I will find my 15/10 year olds sound asleep in thier beds while the 13 year old is watching tv. He just wants and needs less sleep than his brothers.
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