Does your toddler fight bedtime?
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I purposefully gave Connor a bath at 5:30pm so we could take a longer time with our routine at night. We read a lot during the day, but I would like to read to him and then put him to bed.
He screams and runs away into my room and starts to play with things, trying to look cute as can be to get out of going to bed! (He does a good job too...he smiles and says "hiiiii" in his most devious look.) He won't even pick out his own book. He just knows it's time to go to sleep afterwards.
We had such a great routine going but he's fighting his bedtime like crazy lately. Going to sleep later doesn't matter either...AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!
HELP?
No toddler fights bedtime? Alright, this confirms I'm crazy! :-)
Hi Heidi, you're not crazy. Well my current toddler does not fight bedtimes, his little brother has a lot of potential.
I just bought "The Baby Sleep Book" by William Sears, M.D. It has a great section on toddler bedtime routines and what to do when they fight it. Check it out at your library, or just cruise through this section in the book store. It has some really good advice.
Hang in there girl. 
Helen now REFUSES to fall asleep on my shoulder  . I have to put her in her crib!
I know that if you have a consistent routine that can make things easier. Is the routine too long? Are you taking him past his "sleep window"? Once they are overtired it is nearly impossible to get them down.
Try a consistent, short, routine and a consistent time. In about a week, you might see some improvement.
He also may still be feeling sick and may be missing Daddy . You can do nothing about those issues. Hugs, Heidi!
And I have not forgotten the book. I'll take care of it this week!
Hang in!
Ame
I usually dont respond to these anymore because I was a Mom who didnt mind laying down with my little ones, reading rocking and/or snuggling and laying with him until he fell asleep... We also had to have night lights strategically placed in the room. lol Oh and did I mention his toddler bed was in Mom and Dad's room? (off to the side in a sitting area)
Go ahead, throw your tomatoes. At 3 he asked for a big boy bed and to have a big boy room. He shared a room for a yr with his older brother. And then we moved him into his own room. He is almost 6 and insisted that he tuck himself in last night... So I dont see any life altering effects from how we raised our children. LOL I should also mention that as soon as my dh leaves for a trip my ds sleeps in bed with me.
OK, I dont want to debate. I just wanted you to know that's why I didnt respond to your post.
He could be testing his limits. That's always fun.
I find sticking to Julianna's and Claudia's schedule is a MUST! If they are still up past their bedtime or something is missing in their routine the drama begins. lol When I find that their routine isn't working anymore, then I change it up a bit but only slightly. I am going to check out that book that Cori suggested every bit helps. Hang in there.
Sorry, Heidi I didn't respond because Natalie doesn't have any trouble. We have a routine, and actually on bath nights she's WILD right before bed and still easily goes to bed and then to sleep. I think she really likes it in her bed.
When Natalie mastered walking, I found that she somewhat resisted going to bed. I think she was just very wound up and ready to go and couldn't get settled down. For a couple of weeks during that time, I stayed with her longer in our rocking chair and did lots of massage. It helped her to get relaxed during that phased and she seemed more ready to get into her bed.
Good luck!
I just changed my sons crib into a toddler bed and last night was his first night. He got up out of bed about 4 times and I had to put him back. He was crying, but finally went to sleep.
All bedtime battles are is your child trying to get attention, testing your limit to see how long they have to fuss before you break down.
Once they see that they have nothing to gain by pitching a fit, they'll start going to bed as they should.
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