how do you make a 2 yr old go to sleep early?

Question

My 2 yr old is very active (maybe hyper) and I can NEVER get him to bed before 10 or later. I have to be up at 5:30 for work and I am not getting much sleep since he was born. HELP

Answer 1

Shorten his nap or take it away entirely. Or take him to the park to tire him out, even a warm bath with lavender might help.

Answer 2

Dear Sleepless Mom,
I have been where you are now, and this was a long time ago. A two year old is at the terrible twos stage and at that age very very active which is very normal. My grandson which is 4 now but, when he was 2yrs my daughter had a heck of a time trying to get the baby to sleep. Most kids of that age are a little hyper and therefore have the built in energy to go all night. What you have to do is get into a routine where every night before you put the baby to bed and make sure it is 7-8 o'clock not 10 0'clock, shut all the lights but before you do this give the baby warm milk with a little sugar in it. What this does is calms down the nervous system and relaxes the child. I can honestly tell you the child will fall asleep earlier than you think.Keep doing this every night and you will see the results. You can check with your doctor and he will tell you the same thing. Warm milk and sugar or warm water and sugar.

Good Luck
Ronnie C

Answer 3

Have a routine. Turn off all the lights. I have always put my children to bed at a certain time of the day before 8:00 p.m. and they have all followed this until now. They are 13, 12, and 5. And, yes, one of my child had ADHD and was very hyper, but with the consistent routine of going to bed at the same time helped a lot.

Answer 4

I have a 2 year old and I know how hard it can be.My hubby and I had to play with times for about a month.We finally found that feeding her at 5:30pm and then putting her in jammies for quiet time made it easier to put her in her bed with a sippy cup of water at 7pm every night no matter what was going on, was the best for us and our daughter.She cried at her closed door every night for about 3 and a half weeks.After she was sleeping we would put her in her bed and leave the door cracked.Now almost 3 months later she stays in her bed (although she still cries when we close the door,but only for a couple minutes).The time she wakes up varies but is usually between 8:30 am to about 9 am.When she wakes up we feed her before she even gets the chance to fuss.I know this sounds kinda mean but you have to be very stern with toddlers when it comes to bed time.Otherwise you'll always have a problem with bed time.

Good luck and God bless.

Answer 5

10:00 for a two year old is late. Stick to a routine....breakfast at a certain time, lunch at a certain time, nap at a certain time, bath at a certain time, etc. You need to be firm. Also, cut out sugar or juice after the dinner hour which is probably making your son hyper. Try putting your son to bed (explain that he has "x" amount of minutes to play still) by 8:00 at the latest. Yes, he will probably scream, but you need to get into a pattern and not just let your day wander with him without structure.

Answer 6

This is going to take some doing. First you have to determine what you are doing at night that is getting him hyper. Is he not active enough during day care hours? Determine what foods you might be giving him to close to bed time. No suger drinks are food no chocalate nothing with red or purple die in it.

Now right after you get home form work and he she is home from where ever, you give of your time and play a game that will hype him up. This needs to go on for an hour. If you can take him outside. Now you will start the wined down routine. Bath quite time things, like books dinner, brushing teeth.

Put him to bed at eight. He will pop up a million times, but put him back there. Sit in his room and waite for him to fall asleep. Use things like light shows with soft music or just soft music. Do not talk to him do not give him any comments. As he keeps popping up keep putting him back into bed. After a couple of weeks he will get the idea that you mean business. Rember you can stay in the room just sit on the floor or in a chair where he can't touch you but he can see you. keep your head down, and only go back to him to lay him down.

Now I will admit this is not what I did with my son, and I had a very hard time with him at two, but my sis in law did it with all five of her kids and it worked like a charm. The third child was real resistant and it took three weeks but after that, her child was in bed and asleep by eight fifteen, I hope this helps.

Answer 7

A long walk, where he walks, not in a stroller, warm milk, and turkey for dinner.

Turkey is known for making you sleepy and kids like to make roll-ups with pita bread instead of normal sandwiches. Warm milk before bed will help as well. And a nice walk in the afternoon will burn off some of that energy.

I'm a nanny and from time to time the kids just need to go to bed at a decent hour and then we lay on the sleepy-stuff nice and thick. Also, lavender soap in the bath will help.

Answer 8

Everything I've read says that routine is essential. Every night, do the same things in the same order: eat dinner, give the little one a bath, massage, read books, listen to a soothing song, whatever works for you in the evening. Then finish off by putting him to bed. After awhile his brain will know what's coming and will be ready to sleep by the time the routine is finished, and you will have trained him. Then, theoretically, he will be able to be put to sleep earlier, as long as you don't deviate from the routine. With my daughter, we have been able to do our bedtime routine and occasionally put her to bed as early as 6:30 without a fight, because of the routine we have in place.

Answer 9

Sounds to me like you have lost control of the situation. Make his bed and give him a bath and then a warm cup of milk. Then put his behind in the bed. If you want you can read him a bedtime story. But, that's all. It is bed time now! He is trying to parent you instead of you parenting him. You need not raise your voice, but kiss him goodnight and use a stern tone of voice. That baby should have his butt in bed no later than 7:00pm. Now stop making excuses and go and put him to bed!

Answer 10

This is SO frustrating... I can relate. You don't mention if your 2 year old takes any kind of nap. If not, then it could be that he's OVER tired by bedtime which is a common mistake parents make. If he's not taking naps, it may be impossible to start now, but you can do quiet time in the middle of the day. Put in a mellow video and require he watch it for 30-45 minutes at least. My daughter often fell asleep during this quiet time. If you're against videos, try putting him on his bed with books for 45 minutes. No other options but looking at books. (this is specifically for nap times, that was not a bedtime suggestions).

If he DOES take a nap, it may be that you're letting him stay up too late. Consistency is really important. YOU are the parent. YOU decide when bed time is, not your child. If you allow kids to decide their bedtime of course they're going to choose staying up.... One answerer said to make a routine for the day. This is a SUPER suggestion. Having a routine can provide much needed security for children. Baths on same days of the week. Dinner at the same time of day. Bedtime routine (brush teeth, go potty/diaper change, story, prayers, song, lights out)... This will help make bedtime predictable for your child. In addtion, have there been any changes or stress in your family? I know that when my husband starts to work a lot of extra hours, and our routine gets messed up, my girls seem to lose it... fighting me about going to sleep, getting up a bunch of times, crying, asking for water over and over, etc... If you are married, it's important to allow your son to see you and your husband together and supportive of one another. That sense of security will definitely help him be more calm. It can also be helpful to cut your son's intake of wheat. There have been links shown between wheat and hyperactivity and wheat and autism. There are some wonderful book (and I am sure websites) about dietary changes that can help sooth children.

I know I've offered a lot of suggestions, but I wanted to give you enough information to get started on some sort of plan. I will tell you that consistency will benefit you the most. Make a plan, and then stick to that plan long enough to give it a chance to work (at least 2 weeks). For us, cutting naps short often makes bedtime worse instead of better. Many people mistakenly think that it's better to wear your child out, but that's not true. A predictable routine, and boundaries provide security, which makes children sleep more soundly at night.

Best of luck to you. I know it's frustrating, but you can do it.

Answer 11

Try this:

1) Wake him up earlier than usual
2) Make his snaps shorter or eliminate them at all
3) Make sure he doesn't drink any soft drink or chocolate after 4:00 pm
4) Don't allow him to watch TV after 7:00 pm
5) Play something that requires some effort before going to bed
6) Turn off the TV and play soft music