Why is my two year old so difficult at bed/nap time ?

Maybe she needs regular routine when all is done at the same time. She needs a lots an attention. Solution? Bedtime stories are always the solution. Always at the same time. Stories needs to be read with soft and quiet voice. She needs to feel safe and bonded. If you are next to her reading bedtime stories for at least 1/2 hour, she may be very calm and easy fall asleep. Before you start reading, make sure the doll is next to her and "listening" to your stories as well. Next time your daughter may copy your reading to the doll by herself. You may want to extend your reading or story telling to one hour when needed. Nap is not as much important as night sleep. She supposed to be in her bed at no later than 7:30 PM and sleeping no later than 8:30PM....

Sounds like you have the average two year old! I am a mother of three and bedtime is not always the ideal, child falls asleep while I read an educational fun story to him/her. My eldest child kept the bedtime tantrums up for four years! but I learned. My other two sleep well now most nights. I really think the only way to go is to not give in to their demands (I know, easier said than done, unless they have a genuine reason like a pain, bad dream etc I tried everything else, now I have a pattern. We get ready for bed, brush teeth etc (keeping to the exact routine every night, any change throws it completly out and Im back to square one) Then I firmly say "night time, time to go to sleep" carry the younger ones to bed (2 years and 1 year) put them into bed and I say "goodnight, I love you" give them a kiss and I leave the room. At first they shouted and I didnt ignore them, its confusing for them at first, I just repeated "goodnight,love you" (many times at first) and on particularly bad nights I would stand at the door for their reassurance. After less than two weeks both younger ones started to reply with "night mammy. love you" now they say that and go asleep within 20 mins with no more screaming

Oh the joy of parenting lol. I can laugh out loud because my baby is 36 years old but for some reason some kids just don't want to go to bed. I don't know why. I was lucky there my daughter liked to sleep and to this day she gets cranky when she's deprived from her sleep. Guess I'm not a lot of help hon, but one thing to keep in mind is one day they'll be all grown up and no longer sleep in your house and you will miss them. You can take my word for this!!! Take Care.

Honestly hun I don't have this problem with my 2 1/2 year old so I'm not really sure what to suggest. What might work is to lay down with her, in the dark, don't let her talk, and she may get bored enough that she falls asleep! It sounds bad I know, but a friend of mine does that with her son to get him to sleep at nap time!

I think that the solution is tough love! I run a daycare and everyone takes a nap. They don't all like it, but it is the rule here. With my own kids it all came down to a routine ( I do this with the daycare kids too). We eat lunch, go to the bathroom, change diapers, read a couple of books and off to bed. If there is yelling and screaming, then I check on them to make sure they are ok, tell them it is time to sleep and then close the door. Let her scream it out sometime. Keep checking to make sure she is ok, but reinforce that it is time to sleep and then walk out the door. Give her more and more time to scream threw it if needed. She will eventually zonk out. A different approach that may work is let her watch a video while in bed. Sometimes a video will help put her to sleep. I had to end up doing this with my daughter because she would never give in like the boys did. I'd put her in bed, put on the video and leave. If she threw a fit, the video went off. She always fell asleep watching the video.

I went through this three times and, each time I thought I was going to go insane. In the end, I decided to give the kids a "rest" instead of a nap. I'd put on a movie and tell them they had to stay in bed until it was finished. Nine times out of ten, they'd fall asleep while it was on - I made sure to make the room dark, play a movie that didn't contain a lot of active scenes, and closed their doors.

Here is a suggestion for you- Start telling her a story that would attract her interest[with suitable action and noise like zoooooo or a plane going saaaash ][now she is going to be wide awake and I know that], then pause.She will ask you for further story telling.Tell her that you want to sit down and then sit cross legged on the floor, with her on your lap[if she is too tall for that, then stretch your legs in front of you and sit. Now with one palm on her forehead continue the story in a droning voice.[if you can sing , you can bring some fanciful gentle songs in between the story in context-say a rabbit helping out thee little rabbit with a song or something like that].Now after putting her on your lap, keep your palm gently on her forehead and caress her eyebrows with' oooou oooou oooou oooou 'in between.Three forths of one story may cause her to nod.Then she will wake up all wide awake putting your ' relief that came too soon' to disappointment. Then you will, have to start the second story.Do not allow her to crawl out of your lap and go her merry way but stop it with a firm voice and press her on to your self.Next she will sulk but she will have no choice.So, continue your story. Now, within a short while she will fall asleep and then you can drop her gently on to her bed. If you can lie down on the bed with her on your stretched legs instead of sitting crosslegged also it is alright. You can go about it the same way and see that she falls asleep.

Oh man I have the same little girl only she is 2! LOL! I truly believe that at this age they feel like they are gonna miss something. Our little one hasn't taken naps since she was about a year old. She doesn't get "CRUSTY" by lunch but I do at times. LOL! I have finally gotten her to have quiet time watching a childrens video or TV show. She lays down on our recliner in the living room and she will normally end up falling asleep. I then get at least 1/2 hour to do some things without her trying to help! At night she has a routine and normally does pretty good. She goes to bed anywhere between 8 and 9 and was normally up at 9 but lately she is up around 8. I can still deal with that. Good luck!

I don't have little ones anymore but my granddaughter stays here once in a while...when she is here she sleeps! Last time she slept over she slept 12 hours straight! It really gets my son and his wife that she comes over and just crashes....not naps but at nighttime....the only thing I do different is run a small fan....the noise must be comforting or something....they call it white noise so she doesn't hear any noise from outside....getting her to bed is okay too....I read her a story....give her a drink and she goes out like a light.

My daughter is almost 2 and she is getting bad about naps anymore. Not too bad at bedtime though. She only naps a few days a week now. If she is not being too bad then I will let her skip her nap. I have to make sure she is super tired before i even try to get her to go to bed at night.

LOLOLOL I don't mean to laugh but I had the exact same problem on here as well...I' sure I posted it here...my littlest one is now 3 and she is the stall queen in my house...I have just gotten her into a routine of being able to leave the room and she does fall asleep...it took a few long nights of her screaming her head off...but she gets it now...she will still try i need a drink i need this i need that...I just tell her no and leave the room!...she still has a few bad nights but NOTHING like before....Now if i could just get her to sleep through the night... GOOD LUCK you'll need it!!

Hi ya Sissygrl I too went through this with my eldest son when he was about the same age. The only thing I found that I could do was to cut out his afternoon nap. Yes it was hard work but you have to give it time as they get into a slight change of routine and it is a matter of doing things with them and palying with them around nap time to keep them awake especially around dinner time. It was the only thing that worked for my son and I eventually got through it but it did take a while!

this is normal for her age. toddlers are at that stage where they try to test your limits. you have to show her who has the authority. if you always give in to her demands, she always wins. but if you are firm and ignore her tactics, you're asserting your authority over her as a parent. it will be difficult at first but i'd say within a week of being firm with her, she'll get the idea. it would also be a good idea to ask her why doesn't want to go to bed. maybe she has reasons, like being scared of the dark or some other valid reason.

my daughter is nine-month-old.so i have no experience. but i will support you all the time.If you feel tired ,please find a place to calm down.Everything will be ok.

hi my dear freind, your problem is just the same as what is mine. the only difference is that your baby is two year old and my baby is ten month old. she just dont wanna slepp. now also i an on mylot and my hubby is sitting with her. its more than 1.30 in night here. and she is awake all the night. at around 6.00 she will be wanting feed and then while taking feed she will sleep. she will take feed in between also but wont sleep./ she also picks up her teddies, her pillows and throw away on you. bang her head on her bed. and when you go to her she screams. if you ignores then she throw more tantrums. good lord, these kidoos are too difficult to handle. they just make me mad. she just dont wanna eat and i am running all the time after her taking her bowl of food in my hands . she in front and me coming behind. every day we pray that today atleast she sleeps, but it never happens.

It could be many things. It could be medical and you need to get her checked out by the doctor to make sure it isn't. Explain to your doctor how she is and have him check her. Then if it isn't a medical issue I think it could be just a misbehavour problem. It could be that she is a little bit spoiled and knows if she puts up a fuss she will get her way. It also may be just something she will grow out of and there is no real problem. Kids in their two's can be a handleful. Have you heard the saying "the terrible twos". You may be experienceing that right now. Keep patient and it will get better. Alrighty then, talk to you later my friend, Have a good mylotting day, Chris

Wow sounds like you have your hands full. I used to have that problem occationally with my youngest. I am sorry to say that she just kinda changed overnight. They basically sleep when they are tired and sometimes skip nap time all together. My friend was having that problem with her son so she decided to put him in his bed and leave him there crying for a while. Eventually her son cried himself to sleep, she still has trouble with him on occation but for the most part, now when she says it's naptime, he lays quietly in bed. I'm not sure if that would work for you. Another thing that you could try would be to ground her in a way. Ever time that she tosses a fit, take something she likes away. Maybe once she sees that you mean business, she's start behaving a little better. Just keep in mind that she is just like any other child, like I said mine still do the same thing on occation. Hopefully she will get into a routine and either take a nap willingly or skipit without being grumpy for you. Good luck and I hope things go a little easier for you.

Believe me it is normal. My brother when he was younger he did the same thing. I honestly don't think there is a way to stop it. She'll have to grow out of it.