Getting my 19mnth old to bed

[asherz]

My son is 19 months and i have  trouble getting him to bed. He never slept in a crib and would rather a play pin. I make the play pin very comfterable and he sleeps in that. Most of the time if i just put him in there he will scream and cry till he falls asleep. Sometimes he he will go right to sleep on his own. I just had our second boy 2 months ago. So know he will fall asleep on his own on the living room floor, or couch.  It is usally around 11pm. He takes an afternoon nap any where from 11 or 2. He sleeps 2 hours. I can not get him to understand to lay in his toddler bed and go to sleep even when i sit in there with him. He will stay in the play pin but sometimes he gets up and has learned to get out of it. The past week he was been out of bed 3 times. We have an upstairs with step steps. The boys are going to share their bedrooms when the other one begins to sleep through the night. Because the father goes to work in the mornings he sleeps uspstaits alone and me and the boys down stairs. my 19mnth old has a play room right off the living room and he sleeps there while me and my newborn sleep in the living room. Help what do i do to get him to sleep in his toddler bed and out of the play pin. He is also a hyper active child. Thanks

[margypops]

Remove the play pen and put him in his crib ignore the yelling,read to him before bed and set up a nice consistant routine, stick to it, when he gets out of the bed, , put him back, over and over no yelling, no talk, just do it. He will get the picture soon.Make sure he has had plenty to do during the day and not slept a lot as he wont want to sleep at night aswell as during the day, at his age a shorter nap is okay, sometimes children sllep half the day and parents wonder why they cant sleep at night. Good Luck

[ELC08]

I'll expand.  For my active son 4 year old son, a routine has been all important.  His routine developed when he was about 18 months when we moved him from a crib to his toddler bed and has worked wonders.  He goes right to bed with no problems.

Bed time is at 8 sharp.  I start giving him a warning that bedtime is coming about 15 minutes prior.  We go into the bathroom and brush his teeth, then into his room to get into his PJs, then he picks a story that we read (just one, kids will try to get more to stay up later!).  Then he gets tucked into bed, we say prayers, give a kiss and eskimo kiss, say I love you, turn off the lights, and leave.  

The nights he had trouble (there really weren't too many since we started early with this routine)...If he cried or sceamed, we go in every 15 minutes or so to comfort, very quickly, very quietly.  Spend no more than about 1 minute, give a pat, say I love you, and leave.  If he gets out of bed, pick him up, put him back, say I love you, and leave.  

The first couple nights, you may have to do this repeatedly for several hours, but in no time your son will learn that he doesn't get what he wants (to get up and have your attention) by screaming and getting out of bed.  I think in your son's case, the bedtime routine will help a lot.  Also, start doing mellow activities an hour or so before bedtime.  Watching a calm movie, playing with blocks, etc.  Try to keep the home quiet and get him in a quieter mood.