>>my son (2.5) takes 3 hours to go to sleep now- he finds any excuse to come out of his room, and if i lock the door he screams and i cant bare it. hell ask for food, tissues, bandaids and anything else. PLEASE any advice is gold right now!<<
I wouldn’t suggest locking the door when your son goes to bed, since it’s a scary thing for a child. It’s much better to leave it open when he goes to sleep so he can see that even though he’s going to sleep, you are still there for him.
Here are a couple of things to consider before taking any action steps: is he tired when you put him to bed? Is he taking a long or late nap during the day and he’s really not ready for sleep later in the evening? If not, maybe he needs to take a shorter nap during the day, more time outdoors in the afternoon to burn off some energy, or more of a bedtime ritual to help him unwind. If he’s tired and ready for sleep when bedtime comes around, go on to the next thing below.
The next issue is to be sure that bedtime is positive and not punitive. Look, none of us want to stop doing something we’re enjoying, and for little kids, it’s more fun to be awake than to go to bed. So we have to make an effort for bedtime to be nice time together. To start, maybe you can sit next to him for a little while when he goes to bed so he doesn’t feel that bedtime means a sudden big separation.
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