Attachment Parenting
Emerald27
member
Toddler Bedtime Ideas?
Emerald27
member
I need some fresh ideas, ladies. I'm all out. 
DS (2.5yo) turns into a wild man when the lights go out, and bedtime takes 1-2 hours! Our routine is bath (a few nights a week), new diaper, pjs, brush teeth, book with daddy, lights out and snuggle while mommy or daddy sings. We've been doing the snuggling part together lately to try to help DS get used to the idea of daddy doing bedtime: new baby due in October.
DS is in his own twin floor bed in his own room, and once he's asleep, I go to my own bed across the hall. When/if he wakes and calls for me, I go to him and snuggle him back to sleep. No problem.
So back to my wild bedtime man. He giggles and jumps around on the bed, kicking (sometimes getting me in the tummy) and elbowing (sometimes getting me in the boob) and changing direction. He screams like he's being murdered and cries when I hold him still to "snuggle" him to sleep. Eventually he does settle down and lay next to me, but then he sings or counts the stars on his ceiling or tells himself a story or plays with his toes. Meanwhile I feel like I've ridden in a rodeo!
He falls asleep and sleeps happily all night, wakes cheerful in the morning, but DH was asking me tonight; how long can this phase last?! It's not a fun one.
So if you've made it this far, here is my question:
I need some fresh ideas for getting DS ready for and into bed so that I don't get beaten up by tiny limbs and he doesn't feel like bedtime is traumatic. Right now I'm laying in my own bed, having told him that if I had to ask him to lay down one more time, I would leave the room, and he is talking to himself laying in his own bed...hasn't complained yet.
DS (2.5yo) turns into a wild man when the lights go out, and bedtime takes 1-2 hours! Our routine is bath (a few nights a week), new diaper, pjs, brush teeth, book with daddy, lights out and snuggle while mommy or daddy sings. We've been doing the snuggling part together lately to try to help DS get used to the idea of daddy doing bedtime: new baby due in October.
DS is in his own twin floor bed in his own room, and once he's asleep, I go to my own bed across the hall. When/if he wakes and calls for me, I go to him and snuggle him back to sleep. No problem.
So back to my wild bedtime man. He giggles and jumps around on the bed, kicking (sometimes getting me in the tummy) and elbowing (sometimes getting me in the boob) and changing direction. He screams like he's being murdered and cries when I hold him still to "snuggle" him to sleep. Eventually he does settle down and lay next to me, but then he sings or counts the stars on his ceiling or tells himself a story or plays with his toes. Meanwhile I feel like I've ridden in a rodeo!
He falls asleep and sleeps happily all night, wakes cheerful in the morning, but DH was asking me tonight; how long can this phase last?! It's not a fun one.
So if you've made it this far, here is my question:
I need some fresh ideas for getting DS ready for and into bed so that I don't get beaten up by tiny limbs and he doesn't feel like bedtime is traumatic. Right now I'm laying in my own bed, having told him that if I had to ask him to lay down one more time, I would leave the room, and he is talking to himself laying in his own bed...hasn't complained yet.
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Re: Toddler Bedtime Ideas?
Maybe it's worth it to wake him after an hour? So that he gets a good break for sleep but is tired at bedtime? I don't know.
Last night, we spent a long time with him in his room and me in mine, talking across the hall. When I checked on him, he was laying down under his blanket (which he kicks them off in order to roughhouse) calmly: why can he be calm when I'm not there and he's crazy when I am? ~X(
I eventually did snuggle him to sleep instead of just letting him fall asleep on his own, but maybe that is a possible direction for us. My only concern would be enforcing that he has to stay in his bed. That could be a struggle.
Thanks for the advice ladies, and keep it coming! Toddlers are so much harder than infants! Lol
DD reached a point somewhere around age 2 where she would not go to sleep with me in the room. If I left it made things go so much faster. We would do the whole bedtime routine, turn the lights out, and snuggle for a few minutes. Then I would give her hugs and tell her good night, and go. (We talked about this new routine prior to bedtime for the first few nights so it wasn't a surprise). I was sort of shocked by how much of a difference it made. Yes, some nights she would get up 1,000 times before giving up and going to sleep, but most of the time she calmed down quickly and drifted off.
DD is not a good sleeper at all, so take any sleep advice from me with a grain of salt, but that was our experience.
One of the things we instituted was some "good night stretches" which we found on our On Demand Sprout channel. (They're also available online). It works well for us, because it gives him a chance to be physical, but not in a way that's going to rev him up. I have no affiliation to Sprout - so if you already do/know some yoga, you could just do that with your son. I resort to the program because it knows how to break down the moves for toddlers, as opposed to me figuring out what good poses would be. But I do end with "corpse pose" which isn't in the program, but a great way to get them to lie down and start relaxing for bed. (We do this post bath/teeth brushing, but before story time).
I love the idea of doing some stretches or something before bed. Will check out sprout!
We had an interesting naptime today. He kicked me in the stomach (by accident...just being a kid) and I told him that if he couldn't be calm I would leave. He continued to be crazy, so I got up and left the room. He started to follow me, and I told him firmly to lay down. He listened! And I sat in the other room for a few minutes. He didn't cry or call for me, so I went to check on him and he was asleep!
My new plan is to try adding some stretches or something to the bedtime routine, and to require that he be calm and gentle for me to stay. If he wants me to come back, I will, but he'll have to be calm and gentle. I'll gently remove myself from the room if he's too rowdy, and he can either calm down and welcome me back or fall asleep on his own.
I think you're right that he's getting to the point where he just needs a little space. Hard to believe, because he has been glued to me his whole life and hasn't really even wanted to play independently until recently. Kid's growing up, I guess!