Tantrums - Jackson Heights,NY

It could be several things. Like you said, she tells you she's not tired. Well, maybe instead of "forcing" her to nap make her go to her room for quiet time. She has to close the door and look at a book or play quietly with toys but she has to be up there an hour at least. If she falls asleep, great, if not, oh well. It's also her testing her limits and what she can get away with. If she figures out how to get 15 mins out of you every night she has minipulated you into getting her way. I would keep bed time routine the same as it has always been. And she goes up whether she throws a fit or not. If you have to carry her up so be it. She needs to know that you are in charge here. If she continues to pitch a fit, let her. If she doesn't sit on the potty or brush her teeth, oh well. It's only one night. This is a phase, it will pass. But she's testing you, giving in sets the tone for her doing the same for other things as well. Because she will see that it worked for bed time so it will work other places too.

i have three kids and run a home daycare, so I have seen many tantrums and every kid is different when it comes to them. Some kids react to negative attention and others only respond to getting their way. One thing that worked with my daughter (who is now 6) was threatening her with things she did not like. When she refused to go to the bathroom before bed and leaving the house, I threatened to put her back in diapers. I went as far as buying cheap dispers and putting one on her one night. Maybe if you have a friend or neighbor with an older toddler you could ask for a few diapers to have in the house. As for the teeth, my son went through that. He never wanted to brush his teeth. One day while I was flipping through a magazine I found a picture of a monkey with really nasty looking teeth. I cut it out and hung it on the fridge and told my son if he did not brush his teeth he ws going to get monkey teeth. It worked!!!
One thing you might want to try is doing the routine yourself while she does it. I am not sure where you stand with her in the bathroom while you are going, but maybe it you both go to the bathroom and brush your teeth she will do what you are doing, or feel "grown up" doing what her mommy is doing.
Good Luck!

I think you may be right about the nap. My son is 3.5, and naps most days. He's ion school during the week, so sometimes he naps and sometimes he doesn't, but when he doesn't he goes to sleep earlier at night. Weekends are a different story, I haven't been able o put him down for nap at the 1pm school nap time for some time now. So he'll nap but much later, which effects his sleep time at night. I've started not to force the nap at all. If he is really tired, then I'll push the nap other than that I have started to like the no nap days since it gives me my night earlier. If he does not nap, we'll start our routine at 8ish, but with a late nap on weekends we're talking about 10ish instead. In school when he naps (between 1 to 3), nighttime still comes around 8:30. In anycase I do have some ideas for you. I would switch things up a bit. I would start the routine with the brushing teeth and toilet, then TV upstairs, then books and off to bed. Sounds like she struggles mostly with going upstairs, so why not start upstairs and transition from say watching TV in your room to reading books in her room and off to bed. Sorry for the rambling on, but make sure you explain to her the changes before doing them. Good luck to you

Hey trae,
sorry to hear about the issues at bedtime. I have found that charts and sticker always work well. Eevrybody wins kids love stickers and they love the fact of getting a sticker for everything they do. I have two kids ages 7 and almost 2 . The charts always work with my kids . From bedtimes and chores to potty training and eating. Then when the week end if they have x amount of stickers they can pick a movie to watch with mommy and daddy ,or read an extra bedtime story or and activity for during the day or a small simple treat that doesnt cost anything or very very little. Hope this helps a little . Chart and stickers from the dollars stores run a total of like 4 bucks . I also have a treat box in which they can choose one item from . I stock up with items from dollars store . The key is look for things that come in packs of more then one .you get your moneys worth and sanity if this works . And your kids get stickers and cheap "fun" stuff for doing good.It is win win . Good luck