3 yo not wanting to sleep

mamablase1

I am at my wit's end and I know I created this monster.....little background:

DS, who just turned 3 last month, is a great sleeper once he's asleep and almost always has been. From Oct 2013 to May 2014, DH ran a paper route. Our bedroom and DS's room are very close to one another and, in order to make sure DH was able to sleep, I began to make sure DS was asleep before putting him to bed so as to not have him crying or screaming or anything and keeping DH awake. It was much easier that way and that allowed me some 'me' time after I was done getting him to sleep. Now, it's not so much of a problem of him needing one of us in there to get him to sleep, he just will NOT get in bed and stay in bed. All he wants to do is play. We will normally try and let him play in there for a little while and do his thing, but this can go on for close to 2 hours sometimes. I know he is exhausted at times b/c, for instance, last night I started bed time at 8:30 and it was 10:15 before he was asleep. It is so frustrating b/c I can't get anything really accomplished because I go in there every so often to try and get him to get in bed; DH and I never get alone time. I know this will sound bad and I don't mean it in a bad way, but some nights, I just need bedtime to go quick and painless b/c I am exhausted, or stressed, or have a gazillion things to do, or any number of things. And I know he is not getting the amount of sleep he needs because he, on average, will not get to sleep until 930/10 and then he wakes up by 7:15 at the latest, usually earlier. I just don't know what to do.....and I'm sure this all sounds ridiculous..ugh....any ideas, tips, experiences are more than welcome.

Ya Never Know

DD has been doing this, so we've started putting her to bed earlier. We anticipate that's she's going to play for an hour or so, so we aim to have the bedtime routine done by 7:30 latest, then once we leave the room, she can tire herself out if she's not ready to sleep. She's generally asleep by 8:30 latest now, and wakes up around 6:30, which is normal for us. If you're only starting bedtime at 8:30, your LO could be overtired too, which makes it even more difficult to get them to bed because they've kind of passed the natural point at which they would have willingly went to sleep. When DD is overtired, she is next to impossible to put to bed, and then she's exhausted the next day which only leads to more overtiredness, and she can be cranky as hell.

Edit: Does he nap? If so, try cutting out naps and see if that helps.

BarrysBride05

What sort of routine do you have around nap time? I know at the sitter (she goes 2-3) days a week she lays down after lunch. When she is at home we have lunch, read 2-4 books with a lullabies app on low and then I kiss her and stay seated on the bed til she dozes off (which usually does not take long). I have to jiggle her every few days (she's never been a fan of rocking) She still naps between 1.5 to 2 hours at 2 1/2. Maybe try to incorporate whatever activity they do at naptime at daycare as much as you can at home? She did not nap one day last week because we were on the go and it proved she MUST nap still.