What to Do When Your Toddler Gets a Second Wind

Toddlers don't tend to have bedtimes. At such a young age they still have many infant like sleep patterns and would not likely find comfort or ease taking to a bedtime. Their concept of time is different than that of a young child and they wouldn't be able to plan for such an abrupt halt to their day. Not to say that a mom can not plan to have her toddler sleeping around the same time every night, but when your toddler gets that unexpected second wind, simply telling them it is bedtime is not an option.

The best thing that you can do when your toddler gets a second wind and has no interests in laying down or even nursing is to ride out the second wind. You both will become very anxious if you try and get your toddler to go to sleep regardless if they are tired. This will likely draw out the second wind even longer. Instead allow your toddler to play, and avoid watching television. If your toddler is playing they will be using up the energy of the second wind, where watching television may be something quiet that they can do but it will not get their body any closer to feeling tired.

It is a good idea to keep things mellow, especially if you have other people in the house like older children who are already sleeping. This will also help your toddler not get too excited. Rather than having the over head light on of the room that you and your toddler are in just have a side lamp on. When choosing what toys to play with encourage your toddler to pick fun yet quiet pieces. Reading to your toddler is something that can get them in the mood for sleeping and night time, especially if that is something that you often do before they fall asleep. If your child seems to be getting bored from playing but still appears to be quite awake you can suggest that you read them a story.

It will not take forever to get your toddler to sleep, in my experience if my little one is up past 10 and I go and lay down with him to get him to go to sleep he spends more than the next hour trying to climb out of bed and leave the bedroom. This is not fun for either of us and in my mind a waste of time. When I just ride out the second wind, and allow him to play quietly with his toys I am able to get work done on my computer while keeping an eye on him. Plus, I have never seen him stay up playing longer than 35 or 45 minutes, usually after a half hour he wants to eat and falls asleep nursing.