2 year old refuses to get into bed

[MadCatLady465]

Help please!! My 2 year old was a really good girl going to bed until recently. She now says 'Megan do it' and stands by the bed, but will not get in.

If I say to her "do you want mummy to put you to bed" she says Megan will do it, but then she doesn't. Then if I do put her in she just screams and gets back out again.

I've been just leaving her in the room and going away but I don't want bedtime to become a battleground and every night end like this.....

I'm sure she knows what I'm saying as she just stands there and looks defiant. I've tried counting to 10 to see if she would do it but she's just too stubborn.

Any ideas please?? Thanks for reading x

[Hidden]

My boy is only 6 months old so I'm not here yet, but i always used to watch super nanny with Jo Frost, I always thought her way of getting kids to bed and to stay in bed was good and always seemed to work! Have you ever seen it? Maybe look on YouTube for a clip?! Xx

[dons88]

Ah toddler bedtimes - a proper minefield! My son is three in a couple of weeks and we've now got bedtime sussed but he was a right pain for a while! He used to do a similar trick where he would get in to bed but then throw all his blankets and pillows off, over and over again.

The first thing I would try is to make getting in to bed special - perhaps buy a little step and let her decorate it with stickers and make that her "big girl getting in to bed step".

If that doesn't work I think you have to move to pure persistence - you can't force her to get in to bed because like you say it will turn in to a battle. What I would do is tell her that she can stand by the bed if she doesn't want to get in and you're going to sit in the room with her. Don't speak to her and if she wanders off lead her back to the bed. It'll be a right pain but I'm sure she'll eventually get in through boredom and tiredness - a couple if nights of that and it'll become boring to her. I hope you find that helpful - they're all so different, particularly by this age but this is the way I'd go with my boy.

Good luck! X

[MadCatLady465 in reply to dons88]

Thanks!! Will definitely try these, x

[Hidden]

I agree with dons88 maybe take her to shops and see if theres something she wud lile in her bedroom whether it be a little light or a cuddly toy a book or something tht makes bed time enjoyable or some new pyjamas or bedding.

I was a pain as a child so my mum tells me but it all changed when I got my lion king duvet cover lol..cudnt wait to get in it. X

[MadCatLady465 in reply to Hidden]

Haha! Guess a new Dora cover might be in order lol! X

[dons88 in reply to Hidden]

Totally agree with choosing new bedding too - Buzz and Woody covers were a big hit with us! X

[virginijav]

i have 3 and half year old. sleep is his biggest enemy since birth. he is supper active, during day i do battle with afternoon naps but evening he goes with dad to bed and watches mickey mouse clubhouse until he fall asleep and we transfer him to his bed, he does have to have night light on. but making her bedroom so that she wants to be in bed defianatly might help.