help with night time nonsense

ok so Dd Olivia will be 2 next week and I am tired..

Olivia goes to bed around 7 most nights. however she is cuddled off to sleep by either Dh or myself. Then we put her to bed. Since she has been in her toddler bed she can get up and wander out here or into our bed if we are in bed already. I just want my bed back and sleep all night undisturbed.

It wasn't bothering when she was waking around 4-5am and coming into our bed and going back to sleep but it is getting earlier and earlier and she is staying awake longer. Last night she woke at 10pm and didn't go back to sleep till just after 12.

I know the solution is to put her in her bed and stay there till she goes to sleep. I do not have the patience or energy to put her to bed and keep putting her back each time she gets up so for now that's not an option for me..

How can we get her to sleep in her own bed all night? Today she was so foul from last nights antics. She was still up just after 6am as well. She went down for her day nap at 11 and will most likely sleep 2 hours.. 3 if she is totally knackered from last night. Her day sleeps aren't causing her to wake so I don't know what is. We have night lights on in the bathroom and the fishtank has a light so the house isn't dark.. But maybe thats her problem?

What did you do? or what are you doing/trialling?

I am open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance Nic

Nic, I have no advice but just wanted to offer hugs.
Jake will be going into a bed in the next few weeks and I'm sure we're going to have this problem too so hopefully someone has some suggestions!

Robin Barker has a plan for this sort of thing in her book "The Mighty Toddler". I can't remember all of it, but I think it involved securing the door and making their room safe and offering some comfort through the door. There was more to it than that, but it was a firm approach of keeping them in their room.

I guess it would be very difficult, but might be worth a try.

hmm we are also having similar *issues*...i wonder if it is a developmental thing?? DD has just gone 2 and has shown herself on the whole to being a consistent sleeper. but the last month or so there have been tell-tale signs of 'change' LOL. with her talking in her bed just before she nods off (which i am fine with...we all need a debrief after a hectic day :D), but now (as in the last week...) she is in there chatting away until 10ish at night..and still waking around the 6.30 mark. i am sooo tired. not sure what to do...i am desperately clutching at straws and hoping that it is just the heat wave causing some discomfort and not some toddler tactic of excitment and subterfuge LOL!

Olivia has never been a great sleeper. she started sleeping through about 13 months but we have never gone more then 3-5 nights without her waking up. she stirs a lot and is a very very light sleeper.

I am already dreading tonight because I know she is going to put up a fight about bieng put on her bed and me sitting there.. I will try it but seeing as Dh isn't home tonight (work) I might leave it till tomorrow night when he is home for 4 days

My son was like that, in the end in desperation we put a safety gate on his doorway, he could see out but not get out!!! Some might say its cruel, I don't know?? we never left him to scream, if he got upset we would sit outside his gate and read or just sit depending on the time... what about giving her books or toys to play with, my mum did that for me and apparently it worked. Touch wood I have'nt had the problem again but I have another 2 to go through that stage!!!:pray:

unfort I can't put a gate on the door as she shares a room with her 4 yr old brother (hurry up renovations) Can't wait for the kids to all have thier own room

We did that with our eldest and it worked great. but Ds2 and 3 were just brilliant and never got out of bed once we put them there.

I am just not sure where we went wrong with Olivia. Jacob was Bf to sleep till 21 months and then he just went to bed like normal after that. Livi was Bf to sleep till 21 mnths and 9 days and she seems to think that we have to cuddle her off every night still. *sigh* fingers crossed they all go down easily tonight because I am over today

It's so much harder to cope with these things when you're shatteringly tired yourself, we are living through similar issues.

I totally understand that the concept of taking her back to her bed each time, and staying till she's re-settled is just too hard atm. It's an ideal gentle approach thing to do, but not easy when you're already really tired. Could you try a couple of nights of sleeping on a mattress next to her bed, to see if that helps her sleep through again (well, until 4-5..). Even if it just means that you get a slightly better couple of nights to recharge your own batteries. This works for my DS, except that he wants to lie on the floor with me, but it does mean that 2 out of the 3 of us in the house have a good night's sleep, which is better than 0/3.

This is about all I've got - we've booked a visit from a sleep specialist in early December cos we're all out of ideas for us, so really just trying to keep everyone alive until then :lol:

Well miss Olivia most definetly didn't want to be put in her bed tonight *sigh*

I gave her a cuddle and told her I was going to sit down next to her.. Well she screamed and carried on and with 3 other children going to bed it wasn't an ideal situation..

so she had her drink of milk and went semi off to sleep out in the lounge with me. I lay her on her bed and she said pat me mummy pat me (aww) so i rubbed her back and she went to sleep..

getting her to sleep is rarely an issue it the staying asleep all night..

the "pat me Mummy" is so cute, how could anyone resist ;)

We're the same, generally no problems going to sleep for the night - but staying asleep - what's that?

I still haven't put Natty into a bed yet because I'm too scared of her getting out of it :redface: So no personal experience to share, sorry.
But does Olivia respond to a reward system? Like, if she stays in her bed until morning she can have a special breakfast, or a sticker, or some kind of other treat/activity she enjoys? She may be too young, but I know some kids are more into this than others regardless of age.
I know you also said that getting her to bed isn't the problem... does this mean she's really tired by 7? Or could she stay up a little later? Natty will often sleep more deeply and soundly if she's gone to bed a little later (even half an hour makes a difference). Though I don't do it often because she gets REALLY silly when she's tired...
Hope tonight is ok for you.

I am a baby gate fan too...after a few days use we never needed to use it again. Once DD is asleep she stays asleep though.

Bummer to hear the reno's are stopping you from trying that - hurry up reno's.

Is Olivia attached to a teddy bear or anything? I guess she could be doing it (getting out of bed) as that has been her routine of late, or she wants your comfort (double awww's to the pat me mummy :)). What about one of those bed rails - would that keep her in bed? (Then I guess she'd just scream and wake up the others?)...And so the circle continues...

I'll keep thinking for ya, crossing fingers you get some relief soon though!

:dance: She slept all night and in her OWN bed.. woot!

I on the other hand an exhausted due to a late night :lol: Silly me.. Day nap here we come

That's fantastic Nic!
Hope you get your day sleep in too :)