Sleep Problems with 2 Year Old Daughter. Please Help Me Figure This Out!

around 2 years old (you can see one of my questions about her waking up TOO early) we had to push her bedtime back to 8 or 830. She also started to do similar things (screaming when we left and/or waking periodically) in the middle of the night. What worked for us is we said "oh Haley did you want to take a book in bed with you to read?" We also put her in her crib and taught her how to say the good night prayer (its like of like adding onto the normal routine... and HOLY MOLY it worked..never cried again (in about 3 months) we also have an aquarium in her crib that acts like a nightlight and plays music so she could look at her book and go softly to bed on her own..Her wakings in the middle of the night ignored unless I could tell she was really UP..and she was up and was scared. I went in and held her in the rocking for 3 mins and then I put her back to bed, with her book and we prayed again..that only happend once.
we are transitioning her to a twin bed this weekend. My plan is to start talking about the Easter bunny and if she sleeps in her bed ALL night the easter bunny will leave a treat in the morning....so if she sleeps, I plan on having a few jelly beans lead to a trail and at the end is a plastic egg with candy...she will only get 1 per day, every day (if she sleeps good) until Easter(and then she wont be overloaded with Candy ON the actual Easter day). ...that may be an idea for your 2 year old...mine is 28 months old now)

That happened at our house, too. My two year old, one day, just started refusing to stay in bed. This is what I remember (?) that we did.

I did all of the regular bed time routine, and also said something like, Its time for bed, you will stay in bed, lay down, lay still, and go to sleep.

I also let my son pick a toy or book to bring to bed.

If he got out of bed, i kept silently putting him back in - he kept getting up and running out and crying and he would get hysterical, and I kept putting him back in. I gave him a sippy cup of water and that helped calm him down. I think we had about 3-4 nights like this, and they were awful.

We also made a rule, If you come out one time, hallway light goes off. If you come out two times, door is shut because he HATES that. He wants the light on and the door open.

If my son wakes in the night, and does not go back to sleep - I (or my husband) get in his bed. This might happen @ 1-3 times a month. It might be a couple of nights in a row, and then not again for weeks and weeks.

Also @ two, my son started wanting just me. If my husband came in to get him, or give him his water, or do something for him, he would scream "NOOOO DADDY! NOOOOO! I want mommy!" If my husband did not leave, he would get hysterical. This lasted just for a few weeks to a month. (and no, my husband is not a child molestor...)

I'm not sure if any of this is helpful - I dont think I would use what we did as a model for good parenting, but I wanted to share so you would know that you are not the only one.

Hey, get the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution." My friend recommended it when I had my daughter 2 months ago (when she was born) so when we were ready to put her on a schedule later, we'd already have the info ready. We actually use the sleep solution now to help her fall asleep in her crib on her own each night. We don't have her on a schedule, just use the technique to help her fall alseep on her own in her crib. Before she'd sleep for 20 minutes and wake up crying and continue that until we broke down and put her into bed with us.

IT WORKED THE FIRST NIGHT WE TRIED IT! It took my husband and I about an hour to get her to fall alseep but she spent the mos tof the night in her crib. The second night, she spent in her crib the whole night. And there was no crying involved. It. Was. Awesome.

I found my copy on Amazon.com

Good Luck!!!

My son went through this shortly after turning 2, and it was a sudden fear of the dark that messed up his sleeping. A Twilight Turtle and a new night light made him excited (a little bit) about his room. it didn't stop the tantrums completely, but we just stuck with our regular routine like glue and he grew out of the sleep fighting in a couple weeks. They feel more secure when the routine doesn't change up--so just stick with it!

HI-there is a company sleepy planet that really helped me. Here are their tips and a great schedule.
http://www.happyhealthymom.com/newsletters/How-to-Get-You...
Good Luck!