Hi,
My son is 20 months old.
He sleeps well but its very hard to put him to sleep. Really everyday I get tired of this sleeping ritual and will sleep before he is asleep.
He feels sleepy, drowsy, yawns...but won't sleep, will jump and do all sort of energtic activities when he feels sleepy. this happens during the nap and in the night. All these pre-sleep activities goes on for atleast 2 hrs.
He is not at all tired. He is not playing much, most of the time in the play area he watches others playing otherwise will ask us to play/push the swing for him and finally we are tired.
How to make him sleep?
Any suggestions from experienced ppl are welcome and thanks for the same.
Need some tips to make my kid sleep
Yes I agree with everything Cory said (except maybe the blackout during the day. We only blacked out their room nighttime). The pre-bedtime routine is important. Mine usually finished their day with a bath and then hot milk or soup. Avoid any carbo-rich, sugary foods or drinks in the afternoon/evening.
I'm a firm believer in LOTS of physical exercise and fresh air for boys (mine are now 15,13 and 11 but same rule applies). Mine were out of the pushchair almost as soon as they could walk.
Then you just have to be firm. Once he is in bed walk away and don't go back. It might take a few days for him to understand... but your authority is at stake. You decide when it is bedtime, not him.
I'm a firm believer in LOTS of physical exercise and fresh air for boys (mine are now 15,13 and 11 but same rule applies). Mine were out of the pushchair almost as soon as they could walk.
Then you just have to be firm. Once he is in bed walk away and don't go back. It might take a few days for him to understand... but your authority is at stake. You decide when it is bedtime, not him.
I have boys 4, 2 & 13mths & swear by routine, routine, routine! (and blackout at nighttime, but I put a nightlight in the room!)
bath, story, kiss/ hug/ wave goodnight to all, say goodnight to all the characters on the pictures stuck on the wall, ("Good night, Winnie Pooh, Good Night, Thomas Train" etc etc!), hugs, kiss from me, tuck in, & leave the room. If they talk a while, I have found it best not to go in unless it gets troublesome. If they start crying, don´t rush back in, just wait & see if they settle. If you go back in, don´t talk to them, just tuck in & go! I find the ignoring method really works - they soon get bored of making a scene if I don´t respond (even if I am screaming inside
) Summertime seems to be much more difficult usually, because they know it is light outside still. I almost forgot, don´t creep away & keep total silence outside their room. My boys have learnt to go to sleep while I put the washing machine & dishwasher on, that helps! I am not mother perfect by any means & really do have mega sreess attacks occasionally, but I say to myself that they wil grow up & grow out of this phase one day! (But I have met a couple of mums who say their tots have never slept through the night, at 5 years, scary!)
Good luck
bath, story, kiss/ hug/ wave goodnight to all, say goodnight to all the characters on the pictures stuck on the wall, ("Good night, Winnie Pooh, Good Night, Thomas Train" etc etc!), hugs, kiss from me, tuck in, & leave the room. If they talk a while, I have found it best not to go in unless it gets troublesome. If they start crying, don´t rush back in, just wait & see if they settle. If you go back in, don´t talk to them, just tuck in & go! I find the ignoring method really works - they soon get bored of making a scene if I don´t respond (even if I am screaming inside
) Summertime seems to be much more difficult usually, because they know it is light outside still. I almost forgot, don´t creep away & keep total silence outside their room. My boys have learnt to go to sleep while I put the washing machine & dishwasher on, that helps! I am not mother perfect by any means & really do have mega sreess attacks occasionally, but I say to myself that they wil grow up & grow out of this phase one day! (But I have met a couple of mums who say their tots have never slept through the night, at 5 years, scary!)Good luck
Allie the Britmum, "äiti" to 3 boys, 10,9 and 7, & little princess, 4.
my daughter is 13 months old. We have more or less the same routine every night. Around 8 o'clock every night, I will put her to bed, sing or read book or talk and massage her a bit, it usually takes her half an hour to be settled down. Sometimes takes longer, but it is good family time after being apart for the whole day (she started päiväkoti at the beginning of this month), I realised that she sleeps much better after went to päiväkoti.
One technic we learned from päiväkoti when I was there the first day with her. When the child was clearly tired, but still tried to move around or get up, the nurse hold him firmly(nicely) in sleeping position, he struggled a little, cried, then fell in sleep in couple of minutes (I guess that crying takes energy too). The nurse said that they don't have time to make each child to sleep, but after couple of days, the child will set up certain routine.
I have tried this with my daughter, it helps. Good luck.
Also, as everyone else said, parenting is tough. There is always something here or there. Both of my godchildren't parents said that when their children were at age 2-3, there was some sort of crisis time that the children simply against everything you say, very difficult to master.
So, good or bad, it is all experience, make sure that you keep dairy daily, after he grows up, he knows what had he done
One technic we learned from päiväkoti when I was there the first day with her. When the child was clearly tired, but still tried to move around or get up, the nurse hold him firmly(nicely) in sleeping position, he struggled a little, cried, then fell in sleep in couple of minutes (I guess that crying takes energy too). The nurse said that they don't have time to make each child to sleep, but after couple of days, the child will set up certain routine.
I have tried this with my daughter, it helps. Good luck.
Also, as everyone else said, parenting is tough. There is always something here or there. Both of my godchildren't parents said that when their children were at age 2-3, there was some sort of crisis time that the children simply against everything you say, very difficult to master.
So, good or bad, it is all experience, make sure that you keep dairy daily, after he grows up, he knows what had he done
My daughter started having trouble sleeping around the same age. Like all the others have said, routine is important. Our days are pretty flexible but our evening routine starts at around 16.45 when we prepare dinner together, everything after that is slowing down and preparing for bed. She is now normally asleep at 19.15.
We did cut back on the length of the day time nap, it isn't generally recomended but it worked for us, every child is different. We would have some quiet time together lying together reading or listening to each other breath. If she fell asleep I woke her after 15 minutes. Sometimes she wouldnt sleep during the quiet time and would be tired later, but we found that if she slept even 5 mins. later than 15.00 bedtime became abour 3 hours later than normal but she still woke just as early the next morning.
For us making sure she got enough sleepmeant depriving her of sleep in the afternoon.
We did cut back on the length of the day time nap, it isn't generally recomended but it worked for us, every child is different. We would have some quiet time together lying together reading or listening to each other breath. If she fell asleep I woke her after 15 minutes. Sometimes she wouldnt sleep during the quiet time and would be tired later, but we found that if she slept even 5 mins. later than 15.00 bedtime became abour 3 hours later than normal but she still woke just as early the next morning.
For us making sure she got enough sleepmeant depriving her of sleep in the afternoon.
