how to get toddler to stop whining and go to bed?

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celestialluv

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I have a 2 year old who sleeps in a room with his older sister. The sister is very well behaved and never gives any issues while going to sleep.
I have a routine where they eat, wash up, get PJ's on, read a story and then we say night time prayers. After all that is done and the lights are out (night light on), my son starts whining and crying non-stop. It becomes so bad that he gets hysterical.
We start our bedtime routines very early (6:30PM) because by the time he settles down it's almost 9PM. That is just too long for me to get a child to bed. I've tried telling him that he needs to sleep, that he's a big boy and even his sister is constantly reassuring him, but he refuses to stop whining.
The only other thing is that he's in day care all day with his sister because I'm a working mother, but I don't know how much that plays into his behavior as I focus 100% of my time on the kids when I get home.
By the way, they do not go to sleep at 6PM. That is the time the ritual starts which includes 30 mins for dinner, then bath and when everything is said and done, they are in their beds by 8PM, we just spend another hour dealing with the whining and crying
 
I had this same problem and this was a very simple solution for me... At about an hour before bedtime, I tell her that "It's almost bed time." and I tell her that every 20 min or so, that way she knows that bed time is soon approaching. We have a routine in place at my house but for some reason whenever it was bed time it was a screaming fest, but now that she is warned that it's almost bed time... not a problem at all!
 
I tell my daughter if she wants to sit in time out or go to bed and she usually picks bed lol it works like a charm
 
When you put your children to bed, when he whines, the first time go in and say '' it's time for bed now'' and give him hugs and kisses. The second time just tuck him in and for all the other times. It should be easier to put him to bed after he knows that when it's bed time he needs to go to sleep.

Hope this helps
 
The trick is to read the story, explain that it is bed time and tuck him in and go out of the room. Try to get his sister not to say anything to him even if he is throwing a tantrum. If she is quiet, he will eventually go to sleep but as long as he knows someone is there and will pay attention to him he will keep on going.

If you are not sure how much playing and what behaviours are happening at school, then schedule a meeting with the teacher and work out a solution to get him to sleep. Some parents like their children to nap, others want them to play all day so they can be pooped out by the end of the day. If you can't see the teacher because you are at work, ring them during the day and have a quick chat. I hope you can get him to sleep.

Good luck!
 
I agree it sounds like he just misses you. You work all day and then come home and start your "rituals" at 6:30 (eating, bath, bed, etc) that leaves what an hour or two to your kids? And I am sure you have other things to do in those hours. Spend some time with your kids... Bed is way to early he just misses you..
 
6:30p for a bedtime?? I think that's your problem. Most children I know start a bed time routine around 7:30p. Wash up, pj's, story and prayers should put you about lights out at 8:15 or so. I bet he's be more receptive to bedtime a bit later.
maybe some extra special time with mom. What time are you getting them from day care? 5 or so. he probably misses his mommy and just stays awake to spend time with you.
Hugs and kisses and promise him so extra special time after school pick up tomorrow if he goes right to sleep. Good luck.
 
If you are working all day and then get goes to bed at 6:30 I think that's what the cause of the whining is. He misses you and wants to spend more time with you, unless you get home really early. When you're going in and out telling him to sleep that's his way of getting to see a little more of you.

I would spend just a little more time keeping him awake, maybe another 1 hour and then see how that works for you. Tell him that you'll let him stay up a little longer and if he can be quiet at bedtime you'll read him an extra story. He'll probably still cry at first, but it won't be as long and eventually it will stop.
 
if he is still hungry he will not go to sleep, was his dinner enough?
have you ever used a grobag? my toddler understands that grobag=sleep, if he is not in a grobag, i go through exactly what you go through!
 
i had the same prob with my son a couple of months ago. hes 21 mths now. what i ended up noticing is because he was having a sleep in the afternoon, that he didn't want to go to bed then coz he wasn't tired enough. so i ended up waking him about 630, 7am and he would have a sleep about 1030, 11 am and id wake him up for lunch about 1230, 1. then id give him dinner about 530 or so and put him to bed at 630. it took a while for this new routine to work out where i had to go in and give him a cuddle and kept telling him its time for bed over and over again then put him back down. and eventually he went to sleep.
and now that is our routine and took a couple of weeks but now its all good. sometimes when i put him down for his nap, he doesn't go to sleep but he still stays in there and it ends up being "dominic time" and also sometimes when he goes to bed and i know he's not tired enough, i let him go to bed with a toy and a drink and maybe a torch and we can hear him talking away and singing etc. and he goes to sleep on his own and he doesn't whinge coz he knows its bedtime.

or maybe also he wants a room of his own??

Hope this helps.......good luck
 
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