Terrible twos?? I need help!?

Question

Okay this all started last week. My daughter is 23 months. She has ALWAYS been an excellent sleeper. She will be the first one in bed with her blankie. All of the sudden she does not want to go to bed. she will scream if we try to put her on the bed. anything that has to do with sleep or nap she suddenly wants nothing to do with and will scream until she gets her way. I don't know what to do. the tantrums are nothing compared to this. Those are actually easy for me to deal with it's just this whole sleeping thing. Another thing though, she has always loved bathtime. now she screams! I'm so tired of this. I even took her to the doctor to make sure she wasen't sick and he said she was perfectly fine. she plays hard enough in the day to be tired enough to go to bed, plus I only try to put her down when she looks exhaused and it still doesn't work. HELP ME!

Answer 1

She's testing her waters. She's seeing how far she can go before you cave in.

Be firm with her or she will just continue to take advantage of you. Remember who the 2 yr. old is and who the parent is. Put her in bed and if she gets up then put her right back in it. Don't give in, or it'll get worse.

Answer 2

Good girl to have her checked out by doctor first! Dr says she's good.

I say, so too. She's perfectly normal.

But you need to add in some wind down time. She sounds a lot like my son. He wakes up and hits the ground running, then when he's down he's down, I could run a freight train through his room once he's a sleep.

To get him to sleep though sometimes was a chore, (to say the least) particularly if he was over tired. Trying hanging out with her while she lays in bed. sing songs, read a book together take your time. Enjoy it. BUT LEAVE BEFORE SHE FALLS ASLEEP!

Then when she is calm give her a couple options (This worked for my boy like a charm):

He has a night light in his room and the bedroom door is open -wide enough for a shoe.

If he is good, he keeps the night light on and door stays open.

We had to stipulate what "good" meant though.
1) Stays in bed
2) No crying
3) goes to sleep.
If he broke any one of those standards, I'd close the door. (then of course the crying started)

This is when I would come in, ask him if he really is having such a hard time sleeping with the light on in here, maybe we should take it out.

He thought that maybe he could sleep with it on. Okay, well, I'll set the timer (egg timer) and when it goes off, and you've been good, I'll open your door again. (no more than five minutes to start).

Honestly, we started this when he was one and a half.

Lay it on the line for her. She's smarter than you think.

Well, give it a try anyway.

Answer 3

Sounds soooo familiar. It's not about sleep, or being tired, or hating the bath, it's about control. Your nearly-two-year old is all about controlling her environment.

All I can say is: routine, routine, routine. Don't wait until she looks exhausted, you'll actually get more resistance when she's over-tired.

Let her make choices, "Which toys do you want in the bath?" or "You can go to bed now, or after a book, which do you want?". Let her make as many decisions in the other routines of the day as possible, "would you like carrots or peas?", "should we color or play with blocks" so she feels she is in control of her environment as much as possible.

We sing "Old McDonald" at bedtime and let my 2 year old son pick the animals on the farm...he gets wrapped up in choosing animals and forgets that he is lying down getting sleepy.

Hang in there...it DOES get better :)

Answer 4

I know what you mean..when my daughter was just a baby she was the perfect baby..she hardly cried, and hardly made any noise..sometimes I would beg just to hear a peep from her..as soon as she turned two... forget about it..thats when the tantrum started, she would scream and make noise and tell me no pretty often..now that she is three she has way too much energy, she doesnt want to take naps, she doesnt want to take bath..I too am very exhausted from this..I think we need to set guidelines and try not to let them get away with too much..she has to understand that nap time means just that..

sorry I cant offer too much advice..since I am going through it myself..and dont know what to do half the time....good luck

Answer 5

NEVER GIVE IN never
i would try shutting down every thing in the house and putting her to bed the leaving the room going to your room see if this works
are you sure you are tireing her out with activities?? als naps should be a daily thing and naps and bed times should be as consistant as possible

good luck

Answer 6

relies upon on the youngster. unfavorable twos are specially brought about with the help of the youngster's frustration at being no longer able to chat his/her desires exact so normally, a toddler who has an above generic vocabulary won't be afflicted by the unfavorable twos as badly as one that may not be able to chat. yet another rationalization for it is the youngster gaining wisdom of that s/he has a character of his/her very own so s/he CAN say "no" and could touch the plug socket even after mummy and daddy have reported to no longer. For some families the unfavorable twos could be exceedingly detrimental turning their alluring toddler right into a screaming monster! Lol. Tantrums, hitting, screaming suits and a refusal to do something that the mum and father decide for all often comprise the unfavorable twos. They propose that identifying to purchase journeys, days out and evenings on my own (as mom and father) could go out the window as their youngster's unpredictable behaviour regulations the roost.

Answer 7

Try this. With my five kids, two was definently the terrible age. When she throws her fits, do't pressure her, but do be fairly firm. Tell her that if she does not go to sleep then she will have to sit in time out. Try making it fun for her. If she does not like the room, she may not wan't to sleep in it. When my twins had this problem, I took them to the fabric place in walmart and let each of them pick out some fleece fabric. They picked out one with bears and one with stars. I bought a yard for each girl. Then I cut slits in the sides and tied them together all the way around. Wala- you have a blanket. Buy cheap bath toys for her or a bed set of her favorite character. My boys room is 101 dalmations and the girls is tinkerbell. I hope this helps, If not, be patient and she will grow out of it!

Answer 8

Have a set routine for her every night and before the routine starts try to settle her down a little by dimming the lights or playing soft music. Do whatever it takes to calm her down. Then when she's calm and relaxed get her ready for bed and put her down. If she wakes up calmly put her back down until she stays down. Good luck.

Answer 9

Hmm.sounds so familiar.I've had my fair share of the TErrible 2yr old stage! Its time to enforce discipline and show little baby mummy is not gonna take all the screaming ,shouting,kicking,etc.
A routine is a must and if she misbehaves
(eg;screams=mum with folded arms and keeps really quiet and stern)(eg: kicking= mummy holds her legs firmly together and looks into baby and says 'no' in low stern tone)
Lastly if she obeys ,remember to kiss baby and remind her that mummy will love a nice baby ,not a screaming kicking one.My little one used to scream for hours,ignoring him didn't do any good ,until I hold close to me and looked into his eyes not saying a word til he shuts up.First time is always hard,it took him 20 mins to quiet down and look into my eyes ! Take care ,a mummy is the toughest job on planet earth,but you'll make it!

Answer 10

Most likely it is a faze. Is it sleeping, or is it her room. She is about the age were being in her room might be scaring her. Try a night light. With my oldest, he went through a stage were I had to stay in the room with him until he fell asleep because even with a light, he was still scared. If nothing is found, use persistence, and pry she goes through this faze quickly. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 11

Let her run her self crazy all day take her out to the park just let her run wild. try not to let her nap to much feed her a good meal give her a bath put on one of her favorite shows (you can also try letting her watch all day). Then watch her fall to sleep. If this does not work then i feel for you age two is one of the worst ages then there is puberty.