2 1/2 Year Old Not Going to Sleep at Night.. ACK!!!

M.,
Sleeping patterns do change with toddlers. Sometimes it is because of a change one can pinpoint, sometimes not. You mentioned that the routine during the day is the same. I'm wondering if she is taking multiple naps during the day? It sounds like perhaps she could drop a nap and/or wake up earlier? Also, is the television on in the evening? There is documented evidence of the stimulant-effect of the screens of computers and TV.

Also, it sounds like there are 6 of you in the home, with every one else having a later bed time than your daughter. I know that for us, we had to adjust OUR schedules to help our son get used to going to sleep earlier when he started to school; we also made an additional change of not turning the TV on during the school week.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas!

Is she still napping? If so, cut out the naps or let her have a short one earlier than normal. That will be a hard transition too, however. She'll be quite cranky for a while (maybe requiring a nap every few days or so). Good luck, these transitions are always rather rough.

My 2 1/2 year old just started doing the same thing. And he was fighting naps really hard as well. We just kept plugging away and maintaining the same schedule and he is doing better now. He did get really sick this weekend and is still going through it so I am wondering if he wasn't feeling all the way right and that is why he was not sleeping well. I think maybe the change in your life can be a factor also, we are about to have #2 and I have thought that the coming change has caused him to buck up a little. I think if you just hang in there and show her that nothing about your patterns have changed she will eventually just flow back to the normal way of things. Good luck!

Have all of her two year molars come in? It took me forever to figure out what was wrong with my daughter for several weeks...her molars were coming in.

My daughter had a sleep regression around the same age (just a few months ago) and, while it has gotten better, bedtime has forever been changed. We struggle with a consistent routine, so I just try to roll with the punches as the challenges arise. But I do feel the more consistent routine you can have, the better.

An earlier nap would be good, but cutting the nap completely at this age just depends on how many hours of sleep she can get at night. I can't physcially get my daughter home, fed, bathed and settled down before 08:00-08:30 and we leave the house at 06:00 am...she needs a nap.

There are nights when I just give her a pile of books and tell her she has to be quiet and stay in the bed.

My daughters have trouble sleeping due to nightmares that disturbed everyone's rest. They would rather stay up and destroy everything in their room then go to sleep until 1 am sometimes. I would recommend going to your pediatrician or family doctor and asking if Melatonin would be appropriate for her, the right dosage, etc. It is a health supplement easily acquired over the counter. Basically it helps relax the adult/or child and typically the girls are asleep within 30 minutes. They are able to get up and go to the bathroom if needed. Hope this helps.

This change in sleep habits will change for many reasons. Some of them may be that she is taking a late nap, so have her take her nap earlier. Make sure after that nap she gets lots of very active play. Outside is best, but sometimes with cold weather it can be hard to stay out there for as long as she would like. So think of active play that can be done inside..

Could be that she is over stimulated in the evenings, so make sure there is no loud and raucous playing after dinner. Make sure she has a set routine and FOLLOW it no matter what.

Example, dinner at 6:00, bath by 7:00 with bed after a quiet story time. No TV in the evenings so that she does not get over stimulated with a loud show.

Since it is the holidays, there is lots of fun stuff going on all of the time and it could be she does not want to miss out.

Is she allowed to take good naps during the day or is she in a daycare setting? If she can take a long, good nap during the day, then why not let her stay up a bit? If not, then maybe lay with her for about 5 minutes and put on some soothing music.