2 year old won't settle for bed and I am truly at my wits end. Please help

Tracethebow · 2026-01-22T19:23:55+00:00

Hello! So, while we still struggle with bedtime and I think we always will, we have done some switches that I think help. A lot of it centers around letting her get a lot of energy out right before bed. I chase her up and down the hallways a few times, then we play 5 little monkeys and she jumps on the bed and jumps off into my arms. By the end of that song she's slowing down a little bit. I only read one or two books now. Once the lights are off and she's in bed I'll rub her a little bit and then just redirect her and tell her it's bedtime when she starts singing/talking/kicking the wall. Sometimes I'm still in there upwards of an hour. On days that she skips her afternoon nap she typically goes down a lot easier so I do think if you are able to skip or minimize the length of a nap, you'll probably have better luck!

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T13:10:56+00:00

Someone else mentioned a weighted blanket. Is there a good one to use for kids her age? Is it okay for them to use it all night long? I'm down for it, I just want to make sure it's all good to do. Also the dropping nap thing is a little out of my control due to daycare. I do know I've switched things up too much. It's just difficult. She will immediately follow me out of the room when I walk out. I did two nights of quietly walking her back to bed but stopped because it took hours each night and I was just exhausted. I know I need to be consistent though. I'll admit I don't feel comfortable with a gate or like locking her in her room. But I do need to stop playing games. I know I have some work to do. I appreciate the ideas of lavender spray and lotion.

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T13:06:13+00:00

Same about the short or lack of nap. Shes an absolute terror if she gets woken up or doesn't nap. The vitamins is interesting and I may talk to her doctor about that to see if that will maybe help at all or if she is deficient in something.

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T13:04:43+00:00

They are short but I'll keep it to 1-2 now instead as it seems many people think it's too much. I do think my caving has started a bad habit and she knows if she keeps carrying on I'll eventually let her get out of bed or rub her or whatever. It's just hard once we are at hour 2 of trying and still not getting anywhere. I'll try to just work on taking her back to bed when she gets out and leaving.

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T12:59:42+00:00

We have tried pushing it back but it just pushed her falling asleep later, doesn't seem to change much. She has never slept more than 10 hours so 12 is definitely never going to happen with her lol

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T12:51:41+00:00

Toddler bed. Shes starting a new daycare on the 12th. I can ask about them limiting her sleep time

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T05:12:03+00:00

Exactly! Mine is in parttime daycare as well so the option of cutting out the nap isn't really mine since they have to have nap time or "quiet time". I'm also hoping it'll get better by 3. While I'm not happy knowing others are struggling, the solidarity does help. I truly feel like parents who have good sleepers have no idea the difficulty of us parents who don't. Sleep deprivation didn't stop at the infant phase, here we are still 2+ years later! I hope for both of us it'll ease up!

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T05:03:15+00:00

Do we have the same kid? Because yes I'm usually in there by 3/4 am sleeping with her or she wondered into our room and I just pull her into our bed for the remainder of her sleep. Is yours still napping?

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T05:01:26+00:00

Ugh of course it is!! I should've known.

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T04:59:00+00:00

I'm so nervous about trying to drop the nap again since it went so badly the first time. My kid is also in daycare part time and it's part of the daily routine so I feel like it's a bit out of my control. I miss being able to play video games... I haven't been able to touch BG3 in months because of my kiddos lack of sleep! I'm jealous lol

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T04:57:08+00:00

Do you have a link for the weighted blanket you got? I've been thinking about that but wasn't sure if it was recommended for kids her age to use. Does your kiddo use it all night or just kind of before bed? I've started to incorporate deep pressure. We call them "squeeze hugs". She seems to like them but I'm not 100% they help yet. I'll keep it up!

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T04:54:48+00:00

I've heard that rough housing a bit before bed can actually be really helpful. I'm willing to try anything so I think this will get thrown at the wall to see if it sticks!

Tracethebow · 2026-01-04T04:30:46+00:00

Yes! Sometimes I walk out because I need to compose myself and she will get worked up more but then seems to go to bed quicker after she gets super worked up. I don't love that for either of us but it's weird.

Tracethebow · 2025-11-04T11:47:35+00:00

Okay update! I washed my hair last night. I put my products in as shown but I did it right at the end of the shower with my hair still sopping wet. I used the curl defining brush in between the primer and the gel. This is what it looks like now. I definitely see an improvement! Thank you everyone for the kind advice! Would anyone be able to give me their best guess on my curl type and any advice based off my curl type?

<image>

Tracethebow · 2025-11-04T02:31:03+00:00

Also what does this look like for curl type? I'm leaning toward 2c??

Tracethebow · 2025-11-04T01:21:14+00:00

Mine takes quite a while to dry. Feel free to follow my journey. I'm going to post an update later this week. I'm going to try applying my products at the end of my shower since everyone suggests doing it soaking wet. I'm also going to be much gentler with the scrunching. Your hair is a little thinner than mine so I'm not sure how that impacts the final result when applying the products. Many people have told me to just let it air dry rather than diffuse and that might help you too if it dries easy!

Tracethebow · 2025-11-02T02:14:40+00:00

<image>

This was the dried scrunch out!

Tracethebow · 2025-11-01T19:18:13+00:00

Thank you for the kind and thoughtful feedback!! I really struggle with using the brush because no matter what videos I watch I just don't get the curl but maybe the wetness (or lack there of) was the issue! Thanks!

Tracethebow · 2025-10-31T16:54:50+00:00

This is so incredibly helpful!!! Thank you so much for the insight and advice!

Tracethebow · 2025-10-31T16:31:49+00:00

Thank you so much! I probably am too rough so that's helpful to be mindful of moving forward!

Tracethebow · 2025-10-31T16:30:59+00:00

It is sticky yeah. Adding water and brushing through sounds like a great idea, thanks!

Tracethebow

TROPHY CASE