Help me get my toddler to sleep

[Saddleworth2]

How old?
Either way, remember your house is not a democracy, the child is not your equal. The child only does what is allowed/tolerated and what it thinks it can get away with

I’ve a toddler, she was 2 in Feb. She tries it on now and again but has been in a routine of sleeping through since about 3 or 4 months old

Rule with an iron fist, would be my advice

That was our approach for our three and it worked. They still talk to us too now they are in their thirties :-)

 

[york away to this!]

Embrace these moments. In the click of your fingers the little shit will be spending all night in the park smoking weed and inhaling laughing gas before getting that rough girl up the duff....

 

[Blue Hefner]

He’s 2 next month. I don’t like the iron fist approach, I was in fear of my dad as a kid due to his loud booming voice, he’d shout for fun. I need to be stricter with him, but it’s about finding a balance I suppose.

We don’t shout. We only have one so admittedly the sample pool is small but from my experience it’s all about routine.

Home from nursery around 6
A little bit of dinner/snack
Telly for 10-15mins
Then tell her it’s bedtime and let her turn the telly off
Bath
Book
Put in cot at 7pm
Nursery rhyme for her and her doll
The end
Wake up at 7am

She understands that there are no circumstances in which she will be leaving that bedroom until 7am. None. We may get her out of the cot for a nursery rhyme if she’s had a bad dream or something but that’s about it

Put them to bed, go downstairs, turn the monitor off for 10minutes and see how it goes. If they are still away, repeat but for 15mins - sleep training is the key

To put it simply, there is absolutely no way you are getting you toddler to sleep through without upsetting him/her for a few days. So either do it now, or when they are older and have more stamina and can have proper tantrums

 

[Tuearts right boot]

Cable ties, packing tape and a shot of Malibu worked for our two back in the early nineties. The still visit once a year.

 

[jimbopm]

Here's what worked for me and my little girl, though she was younger and I still had the cot and I knew she wasn't going anywhere. However she would still cry her eyes out and the missus would rush straight in giving her the attention she wanted. So I had to send the missus out for a week to get things done.

Start with a fixed routine, and make something a clear indicator that it's time for bed, like a bath, or letting them watch a certain programme on TV. Do this over and over again.

Do all the getting ready for bed stuff in their bedroom, things like pyjamas, story time and saying goodnight, do it all in their room. Don't be tempted to win an extra five minutes peace for the sake of having them put their pyjamas on in the living room for example. Keep conversation to a minimum and lower and relax your voice, don't get drawn into a battle.

When it's bedtime, put your child in bed, say goodnight and walk away, if they cry or get out of bed do not acknowledge them at all for one minute. After a minute has elapsed pick them up put them back in bed, say goodnight again and walk away again, repeat the process for 2 minutes, then 3 minutes etc etc. At no point get into a fight or an argument with them, the only thing I would be doing each time is picking them up, putting them in bed and saying goodnight. After a while the child will find the whole process boring and will go to sleep.

With my little girl night one I got upto seven minute wait before she dropped off, then night two it came down to four minutes, night three it came down to two minutes. By the friday she did not cry or do anything. Put time as side to do this for the first few days and wait in your bedroom, it will be worth it if your experience is anything like mine.

 

[mayo31]

The kid has sussed you and mum are not a team already

They also know you are a softy

But remember even with all this advice no one kid is the same

Good luck now

 

[hammocity]

he won’t stay in his bed and is driving me batshit crazy. We’ve not had a full nights sleep in about 6 months. Can anyone suggest any inventive legal ways of keeping him in his bed?

I was up for putting a lock on the outside of his door but his mam ain’t having it.

If you are a Hammond like me and all my family, everyone of us like a drink, just start your nipper off early, bit of brandy in his milk will have the desired effect, don’t leave the bottle with him though:)

 

[frimpongs_buzzin]

If you are a Hammond like me and all my family, everyone of us like a drink, just start your nipper off early, bit of brandy in his milk will have the desired effect, don’t leave the bottle with him though:)

Haha, I’ll try that! When Mrs H isn’t looking

 

[Magicpole]

That’s what we’re trying tonight. He’s fucking his bedroom right up. There’s nothing he can get to that will hurt him, but I keep hearing his toys going flying

Takes me back. :)

Little fuckers drive you mad. But a calm keep returning him to bed, maybe a nightlight like the moon previously mentioned and make a big deal about it being his to help him sleep.

Good luck :)

 

[frimpongs_buzzin]

Takes me back. :)

Little fuckers drive you mad. But a calm keep returning him to bed, maybe a nightlight like the moon previously mentioned and make a big deal about it being his to help him sleep.

Good luck :)

Thanks! I think the time of the year is playing a part. It’s still light at his bedtime. We have blackout curtains but there’s that thin strip of light around them that lights the room up.