2 Year Old Won't Stay in Bed

I used to sit by the side of my sons bed and wait till he fell asleep. He liked this. After a while it hardly took anytime for him to get to sleep at all. Next thing you know, he didn't need me to sit there anylonger. Of course, while you sit there, you cannot talk to him, or let him get up or talk or anything. Tell him to lay down, rub or pat his back. Put on some soothing music. Read a book to him. Encourage his resting. Make sure you have a certain time each evening where you will put him to bed, kids need to have a schedule.

E.
i just went through the same thing with my 2 1/2 boy. it can be very stressful on the whole family, but as mommys we have to stay in control. what i did was keeping him on the same routine bath book and bed. on the outside of his door i put a eye hook lock. i put this on his door so he knows that its time for bed and thats it. (i did have to listen to him cry thee first two nite but then he was ok with it)about an hour after i know he is sleeping i take the lock off the door. and i havent had any troubles in 2 weeks. i think that the children dont understand that they need the sleep so we have to reteach them that. i understand that some moms will think im terrible for locking my son in his room but it really isnt like that i just need him to know that when its time for bed or a nap that its it.. i hope that this helped you a bit just something to concider
J. in ct

The first few nights after my son started in the "big boy" bed were awful. All he wanted to do was jump and play. Be patient with him... it's a big change. Don't change your night time routine at all and be firm about bed time. It took about a week before my son knew we ment business. We also put a baby gate in the doorway to his room so he can't get out. I sleep alot better at night knowing he's stuck to one room. He yells from the gate in morning when he wants out. Good Luck.

my daughter did this too. i tried sitting on the floor next to her bed, just so she knew i was there. not touching her or talking , if she tried to get up i would just lay her back down, pat her back a few times then everyother night move back away from the bed a little bit. she sleeps in her own bed now, theres are still some nights where i have to sit by her but she stays there all night. ~good luck~

We went through this with our oldest. We just kept putting her back in, over and over,lol. Don't talk, don't argue, just lay them down and leave the room. It took about a week, seemed like a year, but it worked. It's a pretty fun game for them , making us keep coming and the not talking takes some fun out of it I think.
My best friend took everything out of the room except the dresser, bed and a few booksput up a baby gate so he couldn't get out or have much fun. He took about 2 months.