thread: Any suggestions PLEASE I'm open to pretty much anything!! Sleep time

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  1. #1
    Registered User

    Jan 2008
    1,413

    If the door isnt shut I would shut it and leave her in there.. before you go to bed.. get her from where she has fallen asleep on floor and put her back into bed.. a few nights later. she will know you are not going into get her.

  2. #2
    BellyBelly Member

    Nov 2009
    Qld
    367

    We are going through the exact same thing with DD (she just turned 2), she still really needs a day time nap otherwise she is feral and will fall asleep at 4 oclock sitting up, but she is going till 10 at night playing in her room. I've stopped going in and telling her constantly to get into bed cause the first nights I did this she thought is was a game and it egged her on more. I have found that if I let her go, she generally gets up into bed when she is ready and goes to sleep.

    I was told it is a transition stage for dropping day time naps. I'm hoping in a few weeks she is going to make it the extra few hours in the afternoon till bedtime and will drop the nap cause its driving me insane to.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Add fionas on Facebook

    Apr 2007
    Recently treechanged to Woodend, VIC
    3,473

    I'm sooooo not an expert on this because DD would often take ages to settle down and go to sleep. I didn't cure her but I did, over time, figure out what worked and what we were both comfortable with. I did stories in her room and let her know very adamantly when we were doing the "last story" ie. reminded her on every page - "mama read story, then mama go." Often in the early days she just would NOT stay in bed for her stories. Being firm didn't work. Leaving the room resulted in lots of tears. So I just read the story without worrying whether she was in bed or not. Then after the promised number of stories were done, I'd give big kisses and cuddles and go. If I thought she wasn't really tired, I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and stay a bit longer - if I knew she was tired but just playing about a bit, I'd go.

    I've always closed the door. I don't feel bad about this because it just never seemed to worry her. I'd often hear her messing around in her room and that was OK by me as long as she wasn't distressed. I'd hear her rattling the door knob if she was upset and she never has. She seemed to 'get' that I wasn't coming back.

    So I guess I wouldn't worry too much if she doesn't fall asleep immediately AS LONG AS she's not distressed about being on her own.

  4. #4
    Registered User

    May 2006
    Igglepiggle Land
    2,742

    DD used to do the EXACT same thing for her daytime nap at about the same age as your DD....she'd absolutely TRASH her room. But once it was trashed - what more could she honestly do? So I left it.

    Something that has always worked for me is just going back into the bedroom say nothing, just put her back to bed, covers back over her and leave the room again (I'm a door shut mumma too). At the most I've had to go back in maybe two times maximum - she soon learn't she wouldn't win that game so she went to sleep first time from then on.

    In the meantime (I know how annoying it can be cleaning up a trashed toddler room, especially when pregnant) I put locks on the drawers - but we've since taken them off, no trashing has occurred since!!

    Good luck hun!