Toddler, 18 months old, gets hyperactive after 7 p.m. - instead of sleepy. Goes full steam until 9 or 10.?

Question

Sleep pattern is bed by 9 or 10, up by 7 a.m. He avoids naps as well, you can start trying by 1 but he can fight it for hours, sometimes not napping at all. We now just drive him by 2 p.m. in afternoon if not asleep. Night is exhausting too, he's up several times a night, sometime totally awake and eats then plays awhile. He is great all day, playing, eating, exercise, no tension. Back to the main problem which is that after his dinner and bath he gets more and more out of control, panting, and kicking like he is doing a freestyle swim. By the time he stops fighting it and falls asleep I am exhausted. It's been such a physical fight (reading, rocking him, carrying/walking with him, rubbing him, etc.) that I feel like I've been through a washing machine. My heart is pounding.It's as if I was doing an excercise routine before my bedtime (same as babys). If only he could sit still awhile, then relax, then let sleep overtake him. Ideas anyone? Similar experieces anyone?

Answer 1

Try giving the bath in the morning instead of at night. I had to do that with one of my children for the same reason as it made him more hyper instead of settling down. My child out grew it now though so just try that for about a week and see if it makes a difference.

Answer 2

Awww, been there and hated it lol.

For some (like me) the solution is BRIEFLY worse than the problem. My granddaughter was exactly the same! When my daughter-in-law was visiting for an extended visit, she was also dreading the bedtime hour or two or three.

One night while she was thus engaged, I put something like -- toddler won't sleep -- in Yahoo search and came up with a lot of hits. Read the first few and they all said the same thing: by that age, a baby/child should know how to put themselves to sleep alone. That is, you do the routine that you both enjoy, then put him/her in the crib or bed, say "it's time for you to go to sleep, night night, sweet dreams, etc., I'll see you in the morning." You can repeat or embellish it on your way out of his bedroom. Shut the door and that's it.

The first night, she screamed for at least an hour. My D-I-L went to the bedroom, soothed the baby with a kiss and a 5 second backrub, while refusing to pick her up, and reminded her it was time to go to sleep, and added "now don't call me, it's bedtime." More screaming, about twenty minute, one verbal reminder from outside the closed door, a bit more struggle, and then it was finally over.

I admit we had to go on the back porch and turn on the music (vacuums work too lol) so that we did not have to listen to every wail, 'cause it was killing us. And literally, every minute, we popped our heads in the backdoor to make sure she sounded "okay". But my D-I-L is tougher than I am, and, once she believed that the theory sounded right, she really did her part. The second night was much easier, and in a week or less, the problem was over.

Furthermore, what the baby gained this way was extra sleep which it tuned out she needed, and even naps got easier by a lot.

Now she is 2-1/2 and the last thing anyone has to say at her bedtime is "remember the rules now, no talking or playing..." I cannot tell you wonderful it is, and how much we laughed over the wasted, miserable hours hours and hours, until we read and believed "she should be able to do this, it's important."

Best of luck, hon!!!

Answer 3

The first thing I would do is cut out all sugar from his diet. Secondly, do you have a bedtime/naptime routine? Do you bathe him at night, tuck him into bed and then read a bedtime story or two? For some reason that I can't understand, little kids seem to think staying up late to fight and argue about sleeping is better than sleeping. If I were you, I'd also stop catering to him. After the bedtime routine, put him to bed. Don't go in to him and don't allow him to get up. Let him scream and cry and kick if he wants and if he gets up, take him by the hand and return him to his bed. Don't stay with him and don't talk to him. Let him know this is sleep time, not play time, not talk time. I know this probably sounds cruel and I'm not usually a let-them-cry-it-out person, but this sounds like an extreme case to me and believe me, if you don't do something about it now, it's only going to get worse. This is not the kind of thing that kids usually outgrow.

Answer 4

Actually, he should be in bed by 7:30 or 8 pm. He is overtired by 9 or 10 and then he wakes up late and then no nap, etc. and your cycle begins all over again! Tonight, try to do a routine and have him in bed by 8 pm latest. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, Do Not interact with him or let him eat or play b/c then he will get used to it! Try to soothe him with dim lights & do it quietly! Keep doing this everytime he wakes up or let him cry it out a little. After a few nights, hopefully he will stop and he might wake early, like 6 am, but then he will be tired enough to take a nap and finally, he will be sleepy by the time 8 pm rolls around again! Good luck!

Answer 5

When I was very young I hated to go to sleep, it seemed I was afraid I might miss something. It drove my parents mad, and they were always exhausted. They tried all the "tricks" with no relief.

Finally, they started rolling the TV in at night and I would watch from my crib while they rested. I know that everyone thinks frequent TV is awful for kids, but my parents would have never gotten any rest if not for that. Until I was around 4 or 5, I only slept a few hours a night and I was a happy, healthy child. Eventually I grew out of it, and would go to sleep at a decent time and sleep through the night.

Answer 6

Stop forcing him to nap. My daughter stopped napping after she turned a year old. She was in bed by 7:30 every night. He obviously isn't tired when YOU think he should be because you FORCE him to take naps. Stop doing it. If he if fine not napping then don't make him nap. When I saw that my daughter was "tired" during the day I would seek out "Bob Ross" the painter on PBS she LOVED that guy and she would sit and watch and listen to him for a half hour, then she would be fine. Not ALL children NEED naps during the day. He obviously is one that doesn't.

Answer 7

I have been through the same thing with my 2 year old.
I have two suggestions, the first one is go to your local chemist and ask for some childrens Phenergan. It is an antihistamine that can also be used as a sedative. I was pulling my hair out with my little girl, who would be up all hours of the night aswell when a friend suggested i use it for 5 days straight, then hopefully geting into a routine. It worked, but its not something you can continue to use. The second it contact your local hospital, maternity ward or community centre and inquire about karatine nurses. You can often take your chld to stay with them for a few days, (with yourself) and they work wonders. Good luck with your son, hang in there.

Answer 8

I would bathe him right after dinner, let him play with soft toys,,no noise makers, try reading a story, turn off the TV and no rough housing. When you put him in bed..try low volume classical music on the CD player and possibly a childs strobe light. My Grandson is 3 and Autistic and these tricks work for him...good luck..grandma of seven

Answer 9

What are you giving him to drink at nite? Anything with caffiene will definitely will not help with his nite cap! Stop trying to get him to sleep....he is so tired that he has troubles falling asleep. (Try putting him to bed around 730-8 pm ).Put him to bed, turn off the lites or put on a very dim lite if he is afraid of the dark, and shut the door. Allow him to cry for 15-20 minutes. He needs to learn to calm himself down. The first time he gets out of bed, put him back in his bed and tell him that he needs to go to bed. Then, after that if he keeps getting out of bed than keep putting him in bed without saying a word to him. This will go on for about 45 mins. He will eventually give up and go to bed!!

Answer 10

Im a mom of 3 boys, and It wasnt until i had a solid routine (after listening to my sister harp on me) that they finally slept right.

What are you feeding him? Are there lots of sugars? Natural or not, sugar still will keep him awake. Lay him down at 1 p.m. and take the time to lay down with him, encourage him to close his eyes, read him a story.

After that nap, run him ragged. No naps, no sleeping until its time to go to bed. If he starts to fall asleep, wake him up. It will eventually work, and you will cry and feel like you are a horrid parent, but you arent.

Watch the food. Feed him a good hearty dinner that will knock him out (turkey works) no juice at dinner that might be the culprit. milk milk milk :)

Let me know if it works!!