My son is a very bad sleeper. When he was in his crib, sometimes it would take hours to fall asleep, even if he was very tired when being put down. I thought a toddler bed might help him to sleep by putting him a different situation. Well now he is even worse than before. I can't get him to stay in it for anything...i'll lie him down and as soon as i turn my back he is out again. this could go on and on and on. We have already had to put all his bedroom toys into the closet because it was no hope getting him to stop playing. Still, it takes hours to get him to bed. HOW DO I GET HIM TO SLEEP IN IT? and even if it takes 5 hours of him fighting sleep to take a nap, should i let him stay in his room that long or should i limit his time in there, even if it means that he is getting over on us by not getting the nap he was put down for? oh, and he NEEDS a nap...he is a very whiney child as it is and when he is tired it is just constant constant whining.

I know how you feel. My three year old will go to sleep just fine in her toddler bed, but wakes up around 5 am and comes to our bed. I am not ready to wake up at 5, so we let her crawl in for an hour or so. Sleep is a tough one, I would have to say fight it out. He will get it eventually, he is still little. Good luck.

We have a bad sleeper that way. In the end to stop it, we had to sit outside his door, and wait for noise. For naps, these guys sleep from noon, to two. When he chooses to do battle, I will spend the WHOLE time putting him back, until 1:30, at which point, Ill let him up. My point in doing this is to impress on him that there is a time for naps, and bedtime that is not negotiable, even if I have to stand over you the whole time. It worked, but it took a few goes. Same with bed time. We would wait outside his door for noise, and immediatly return him to bed. No talk, no eye contact, nothing, just up and in. It takes time, but if you are more persitant than him(IE have the stamina to stand there...yes sometimes for hours) he will figure it out. Mine is the same way, very cranky if he misses out on his sleep. I figured it would catch up to him, and it always does. Good luck!*I wouldn't leave him back there for so long. Really the point is a two part thing...first you NEED to sleep. econd, it is TIME to calm down and be quiet for a while. Set a timer, for an hour, or two. If he just won't sleep, let it go. It makes for a rotten evening, but like I said, it will catch up to him.)

Sounds like my daughter. Has he been evaluated for sensory issues? dislikes standing on grass or sand? Dislikes shoes? or the opposite refuses to not wear shoes? Tags in clothes drive him nutso? Does not like soft touch? Often times children with sensory issues have big problems falling asleep even when they are extremely tired. When they lay down at night they just don't feel right and cannot relax enough to fall asleep. My daughter tosses and turns for hours. At day care, she lies down to nap when everyone else does but does not relax enough to fall asleep until it is time to wake up. At home she would lay in bed tossing and turning talking to herself from 12:30 until 4:30 when I would finally get her up simply because it was too late to nap at that point. One thing I did do on the weekends was to go for a ride in the car when I thought she was ready for a nap. She could settle down then and sleep. I planned our errands around that time just so she could get some sleep.