Tell me abt your 2 yo's bedtime routine

[Anonymous]

My DS just turned 2 and all of a sudden bedtime became impossible and takes 2 hours. He wants to use every potty in the house. He keeps anti g more books. He wants this pajama then the other then the original. This is all accompanied by tears, screams and cries and lasts about two hours... He doesn't know if he wants the night light or not. Throws his pillow out, then cries for it. There has to be some way to make it easier!!??!?!?

[Anonymous]

bed time with a 2 year old can be difficult. If possible, try to find a favorite book/series of books (my son loves curious george), we read curious george at night (I got him curious george sheets for his bed to keep with our bedtime theme and make night night time more fun) and I try to just stick to a routine. I tell him he can pick out the books he wants to read (i read 3 bed time stories) then we turn lights out (and just leave on a night light). It still takes him a while to get him to sleep, but it works a lot better than is used to....Good luck

[Anonymous]

It sounds like this has become a power struggle. I think you need to pick a routine that works for you, and stick with it regardless of fits. He will probably be a wreck for a few nights but once he sees that this is just it, he should adapt, and I'm sure you'll see a much happier boy once he's well rested. Our routine is: dinner, bath with bubbles that lasts 10-15 minutes, pjs (he can pick, but once he chooses, no reversing), read 3 books, have a snack, brush teeth, get into bed, sing a lullabye and rub his back, then lights out. If he's out of bed after that, the grown-up on duty silently walks him back to his room and puts him in bed, with no talking or eye contact. We've followed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, and iit has later chapters about toddler sleep habits, not just infant sleep training.

[polarboogie]

Our LO has definitely become the king of stalling when it comes to bedtime. He has to brush teeth, wash hands, pjs, read book after book after book. It has gotten pretty out of control at times.

Our routine is this: get dressed - I let him pick between 2 sets of PJs, rock with him on my lap and read 2 books if he wants - he knows he can only pick 2, then we sing a song or two. After this, he goes in his toddler bed and sings to himself, plays with a toy, picks up books to look at (in the dark - hehe) or whatever else. Some nights go better than others. Recently he has started taking off all of his clothes and diaper then standing at the door screaming for me to come get him, but I recently started bedrest while in the home stretch of my 2nd pregnancy so he is really feeling a lot of change these days.

Definitely sounds like a power struggle so let him make a few decisions and maybe just start bedtime a little earlier? Most nights, we start around 8:30 but it's 9:30 before the lights are actually out. One day last week our guy was up until past 11pm! As long as he stays in his room, I am ok with it.

[Anonymous]

Our 2 year old is really easy. We do bath, brush teeth, he gets to choose 2 books and we read them to him, turn on his nightlight and say goodnight. If he yells for us or complains we tell him it will be all lights out and the door will be shut all the way and then he goes to bed. That being said, our 4 year old was never so easy. He would be persistent about yelling, crying, screaming, etc... and would go on for what felt like forever at bed time until he exhausted himself but always fell asleep upset which in turn upset me. It stopped close to age 3 when he figured out it wasn't worth his efforts.

[Anonymous]

Right after our DD turned 2, bedtime became really difficult and she would not stay in the crib any longer (I think the holidays were also a factor in screwing up bedtime and routines). We've expanded bedtime to include more books, which helps. We've also moved her bedtime back a bit, and that really seems to have helped. But some of the things you describe, OP, do sound like power struggles and limit-testing. Maybe you can try more empowerment at the beginning but then enforce the choices your DS makes. After a few nights, if both parents stick to the game plan, you will hopefully see improvement. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

This is pretty common for that age. We went through it, except it was with clothes and cups.

We noticed improvement as soon as we put our foot down and became consistent.

Our routine is bath, brush teeth, then 3 books before tucking them in and saying goodnight. We also let them keep some books in their bed/crib and they'll look at some books before putting themselves to sleep. It's been roughly the same routine for a long time (with a few minor changes).

[Anonymous]

I agree that the potty makes things rougher -- I posted about this a few days ago but only got one reply. My 2 year old uses the potty when he brushes his teeth, but stalls and stalls and then right when I'm about to leave after singing 2 songs, he begs to use the potty again. I've been saying no lately but I feel bad because I want to encourage potty-training...but I think he'd do it all night if I let him.