Reply to Not quite 2 year old fights sleep like his life depends on it

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Reply to "Not quite 2 year old fights sleep like his life depends on it"

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[quote=Anonymous]What's the pre-dinner routine?

I found that when our twins were in this phase, at least on weekends, I would head to the playground for 1-1.5 hours before dinner and run them around as much as possible.  The problem is that toddler/preschoolers build up a lot of energy in the afternoons especially when they still nap.  They need to discharge a lot of that energy or it will keep them from falling asleep.

Another alternative is to move dinner 30 minutes earlier, then do something energetic for 30 minutes after bedtime, then wind down.  On days like now when it gets dark soon, I will sometimes pull the cars out to the driveway, close the garage door (we have a 2 car garage) and have  them ride trikes/bikes in the garage for 30-40 minutes.  That's often good for discharging some of that pent-up energy.

Even at 5, we still have a baby gate on their bedroom door.  If they are too wound up, we close the gate, turn out the lights in the room and hallway, so that only the nightlight in the hallway is on and then go downstairs.  The rule is that they don't have to sleep, but they have to be quiet.  And if one wants to go to sleep, the other has to let them.  If the gate is closed, I will open the gate after they fall asleep but before I go to bed just in case they need to use the bathroom in the night. [/quote]

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