I'm so done with bedtimes

You're not alone in this at all. My son (18 months) is seriously fighting at the moment. He'll be acting all tired, and the second I try to put him to bed, he's wide awake! It's so frustrating. I have to rock him for hours every night, and it drives me crazy sometimes. It's so difficult to keep fighting when all you want is to have the evening to yourself to relax😅 Sometimes I just have to leave him in his bed for 5 minutes to go downstairs and calm down before trying again. Unfortunately, I have no advice, but hopefully knowing you aren't alone can give some comfort.

Your definatly not alone. Sleep has always been an issue for my son who is 18 months. My son didn't sleep through for until he was one, and that was short lived. Since he started nursery sleep seems to have become a real battle again. He is so tired but fights it so much, to the point I struggle to even hold him sometimes. His dad has been helping me with bedtime as its gotten so bad. I also go to work for a break 😅 xx

That sounds so tough 😔 I still feed my son to sleep so I do know how it feels when you are stuck in a dark room for hours because they won't go down. I know you want to unwind once they are asleep, but have you tried just taking him downstairs and letting him run round / play for longer? And you just sitting on the sofa etc? It must beat being stuck in the dark all evening and he might get more tired sooner? Xc

Honestly I feel this in my bones. Ours has gotten slightly better recently again but even just getting his nappy and pyjamas on is so hugely stressful. My husband had to take over bedtimes for a month solid because my LO would NOT go to bed for me, even though he’s been in a routine since 4 months old. Essentially, sending you solidarity because it absolutely SUCKS.

Try going for longish walks late afternoon/evening to tire baby out. I did today just went out in that wind for an hour, kept him up until 8.30pm with his toys and books, then a bath, milk and he fell asleep. But he only seems to fall asleep on my bed (never his) with me next to him, but yeah mostly it's challenging trying to get them to sleep...too much energy perhaps and their personalities are becoming more independent??

I’m so glad I seen this today thought I was the only one struggling, I honestly broke down tonight trying to put my 18 month old to bed

Sleep has always been a struggle for my 16 month old. He point blank refuses to be put to sleep in my arms, laid on the bed, laid down stairs when he’s laid by himself. I swear he know once he falls asleep he knows I disappear. Now I keep him downstairs with me until I’m ready to go to bed, he will either sit and play with quiet toys or yes I allow him to unwind with a tablet. Sometimes he falls asleep with the tablet on others he will willingly walk upstairs with me now to go to bed. He will stay in my bed all night and honestly it’s the best thing I’ve done. You get the sleep you need and more importantly you don’t have that fight. I got to the point I hated the day coming to an end purely because I knew bed time was coming. I feel more sane now!

We’re still rocking our girl to sleep, she’s 18 months old. There are evening when she goes down quick, but most of the time it takes at least 30 minutes for her to fall asleep, and recently we’ve had nights when she’s woken up and stayed awake for 1-3 hrs… Every night is a mystery, we never know what it’s going to be like. Sometimes she sleeps through, majority of the time she wakes up once or twice, but she’s also catching everything from nursery, and when she’s ill her sleep is horrific. It’s exhausting.