Question
My daughter just turned two. About six weeks ago (two weeks before the arrival of our new baby), she started having issues going to bed. When we lay her down, she tries to think of any excuse to delay us leaving the room. When we finally do leave, she screams. The timing isn't consistent, but her crying/screaming can last from 10-60 minutes. Nighttime is worse than naptime. It seems that the only way to consistently meet her emotional needs is to be in the room with her. We've become pros of her excuses, so we preemptively meet all her possible needs, give her something to look forward to after going down, make her bed cozy, leave a couple animals and books in bed. We tell her she doesn't have to sleep, but she must keep her head on her pillow. I make her say "goodnight" before I leave the room. What am I missing?
She used to go to sleep no problem. It was like a switch just flipped. This also happened at 18 months when she started talking much more. She grew out of it after a couple months and us staying in the room with her until she fell asleep.
