My 19-month-old has rarely had sleeping issues. Since she was a newborn, I rock her a few minutes, lay her in her bed, and she quickly goes off to sleep (unless she's sick or teething.) She usually goes to bed around 7 or 8 p.m., sleeps until 7 a.m., and then takes a nap (one or two hours) in the afternoons. But for the past week, when I put her to bed at night, she stands up in her bed and screams MOMMEEE for up to 45 minutes and will NOT go to sleep. I have tried going in her room to reassure her and pat her back, but she STILL won't give up and go to sleep, even though she can barely hold her eyes open. This has all ended in me getting her out of her bed the last three nights, and she stays up playing until 10:30 or 11 when she is finally so exhausted that she can't fight it anymore. Can someone tell me what is going wrong here? Should I not be letting her take naps anymore? Should I just leave her in her room and let her cry it out, no matter how long it takes, once I know that she's tired and needs to go to bed?  It really stinks, because when she's up that late, my hubby and I get no time to ourselves. Any suggestions would be welcome!

I would say shorter nap earlier in the day.  If that doesn't work then I would move bed time back abit maybe 8:30-9.

Hi...I have a 19 month old too. We were having the same problem with him. I was always the one that put him to bed, and get up with him at night so on. Well then all of a sudden he started doing the same thing you were describing. Well, much to my dismay we found out the problem was me. He WILL NOT go to bed for me anymore. Even tonight my husband wasn't home, I ended up leaving him up untill 11 untill he got home, because he would scream bloody murder in his crib until I had to go in and get him. My husband comes home, lays him down, and not another peep. In the beginning I would even pretend to leave (so he would think I was not even in the house) just to break the habit of me putting him to bed. I hate it, but alteast he gets to bed at a ok hour now. Its just my husband has too do it.

I had the same problem with both of my children. When I look back to all of the crazy tricks we tried with Brianna, it makes me laugh because this is one of those things that's only as difficult as you make it. Once my second started doing this, I was not willing to go through the same song and dance.

I figured out that this is their first attempt at testing their boundaries. They want to see just how far they can push you and when you will break. That's a kid's job! lol You're letting her win by getting her out of bed after she has a fit. Now she's learned that all she has to do is scream for a few, and she can play until she passes out.

You need to keep her in that bed and keep telling her that it's bed time. Of course she's going to cry, but it only takes a few nights of this before they realize, Mommy means what Mommy says.

This was the only thing that ended up working for both of my children. I felt so mean with Brianna but 2 nights later...she went to bed without a problem. It's magical. They just need to be reminded that you're the boss.

Thanks for the advice! My husband and I figured out that she is just testing her limits with the bedtime issue. To be sure she'd be tired at bed time tonight,  I wouldn't let her take a nap today, even though we had many meltdowns by late afternoon. After I put her to bed for the night, she slept about 30 minutes and woke up crying, but we didn't let her get out of bed. She cried a really long time (and I knew she wasn't hungry, thirsty, etc.) but finally went to sleep on her own. Guess we're just going to have to be big meannies about this until she figures out we are serious that it's bed time!

This happened in my house when my middle child turned 19 months-there are posts somewhere about it because I was EXASPERATED! What we ended up doing was something my mother said she saw on supernanny and is also referenced in the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth.

You go in one time and lovingly put the child back down with kisses, hugs and reassurance and explain that this is the last time you'll do this, that you love him/her but sleep is important. After that you let them fuss for a minute then you go back in, you do not acknowledge them, you don't make eye contact and you gently put the child back down...repeat until it works. The first nights it will take FOREVER, but the amount of time it will take dwindled and dwindles until it's no longer a problem.

The key is to not get emotional in any way-it's so hard to not to break when they're screaming "mommy!!" but in the end I think it's for the best.

We did this until our sleep problems subsided and I don't feel like my kid's any worse off for it and she actually goes to sleep without a fight now.