2 year old sleep challenges: Bedtime call backs

While calling parents back multiple times after bedtime could be considered a stall tactic, it is different as well.  This is the point when you have finally made it through the routine, done all of the hugs and kisses, and you are just about to walk out of the room and then…here come the requests.  Or maybe you’ve made it out but now you are getting repeated call backs.  The first thing I would check is the awake window between the end of your child’s nap and when you are attempting to put your child to bed.  For 2 year olds, there is often a 5 hour awake window between nap and bedtime, 2.5 year olds, it is 5.5 hours and by 3 years old, that window stretches to 6 hours.  This means that if your toddler takes a late nap and isn’t up until 4 or 4:30, you may be looking at a 9 to 10pm bedtime.  You may want to go to bed earlier then this!  Attempting to put your toddler to bed when he or she isn’t tired or ready will often lead to a longer period of shenanigans.  This means that you may need to ensure that your toddler is napping earlier, you are cutting the nap shorter or moving bedtime later.

Check all the boxes

I would also ensure that you have “checked all the boxes” at bedtime before tucking your child in.  This means, if your toddler always wants a last sip of water or a water bottle in the bed, make sure it is there before you attempt to leave.  If your child is potty trained during the day but wearing a diaper at night, at when you are going through the routine and your toddler uses the potty, very clearly say “This is your last trip to the potty until morning.” After the diaper goes on, it is fine for your child to use it. Potty trained toddlers learn very quickly that saying they have to go to the bathroom after being tucked in gets them out of the crib. Don’t fall for it! This is a limit you can set. If you know your toddler is always going to ask for one particular stuffed animal, make sure that he or she retrieves it before going into the room for bedtime. 

Bye bye to the blanket

And please please please do not cover your 2 year old with a blanket.  I am not even saying this for safety reasons.  I am telling you this for behavioral reasons.  Children do not sleep still at night.  They don’t enter that stage of paralysis in their sleep that we do as adults until they are much older.  That means that they move all over the place in their sleep, but also the actual process of falling asleep for a toddler is very active.  It involves sitting, standing, playing, talking and practicing all of the tricks they learn during the day.  This all involves movement which means that if you have covered your toddler with a blanket at bedtime, (often they want this to be a small blanket that once fit over them as a baby but no longer covers their bigger toddler body) once they start moving around, they will become uncovered, requiring you to return for retucking.  I would either take the blanket out of the bed or let your toddler know that if he or she becomes uncovered, they can snuggle with the blanket but you will not recover.  Trust me, you will thank me for this guidance.