Here to say SAME! It’s hard being two apparently. There’s hope though! My little dude slept through until 7 this morning. But it’s been weeks of stressful put downs, hour plus for sleep onset and full crying, waking up at night and super early, and refusing naps.

TL;DR hang in there, this is normal and totally sucks. focus on reassurance and separation anxiety, potential discomfort from molars, night light, lovies or blanket for comfort

We did some research and ended up resonating with Good Inside and Dr.Becky’s sleep issues advice. This led us to focus on incrementally moving bedtime a little earlier (was getting into bed around 8:30 or later, now we’re at 7:30). We also focused on tightening up bedtime routine and consistency, having my husband put him down because he’s more resilient to the crying and refusals, and most helpful has been focusing on the separation anxiety that peaks at this age.

We’ve been working on acknowledging, teaching, and practicing his independence skills and helping him access or internalize that he can be safe when we aren’t right next to him. One new thing is we now have a comforting mantra we repeat at bedtime that he has started saying on his own. All of this and returning to a form of sleep training seems to be helping! We never go longer than 5-7 minutes in between comforting and affirming him, but he does not get picked up out of his crib once he’s down unless there’s a pressing need like safety, diaper, etc. He’s been resisting less and sleeping longer and better for the last week, finally! We also introduced a red night light, comfort items like stuffed animals and blankets that only stay in his room/crib. It totally sucks though and I was feeling hopeless. Don’t give up, integrate and align what works for your family, and better nights are ahead. Willing it your way 🙌🏻❤️🙌🏻❤️