How I Successfully Sleep Trained my Two-Year-Old in One Week

Are you wondering how to sleep train a 2-year-old?  You’ve come to the right place because I was able to sleep train my son within a week, following all of my amazing steps that you can follow in this post.

Milan is turning 2 in February, so technically he wasn’t 2 when we sleep trained him but close enough that I just ended up rounding up. I am so happy that I was able to sleep train my 2-year-old right before his second birthday.

So how did I sleep train my two-year-old?

Back story: Milan slept with my husband and me since he was born. He slept in his bassinet until he was 6 months old and once he outgrew it, we decided to try sleep training him in his crib.

That only lasted 30 minutes, because I could not handle his cries. It literally broke my heart to leave him in his room as he cried his lungs out. We tried again a couple of months later and decided we weren’t ready (more so because his cries were so heartbreaking and I just couldn’t handle it).

So in the middle of the bed, he went, and it stayed like that up until the first week of January 2021. As January was approaching, my goal was to make sure that we sleep train Milan before his second birthday which was coming up in a month.

I was so adamant about doing this and I wasn’t going to back down this time.  I knew that I was going to sleep train my 2-year-old no matter what.  The fact of the matter is he did not have a bedtime. There was no set evening schedule, he basically went to sleep when my husband and I did (sometimes it was around 11 PM).

It wasn’t healthy for any of us. My husband and I never had the time to unwind and spend time together in the evenings because Milan slept with us every night. It was hard for me to work on my blog because I wasn’t able to find the time in the day to work on it, as I was tending to my toddler. I am also in full-time school at the moment and needed the time in the evening to work on homework and assignments. It was becoming impossible to do this because Milan was up every evening.

I knew I had to make some major changes that would benefit all three of us. The first Monday of January 2021 was the first day of my journey of sleep training our two-year-old.

The best part is it only took a week to make that happen. I successfully sleep trained my two-year-old in one week.

Keep in mind that we did the cry-it-out method (CIO) and one of us stays in the room with him until he falls asleep. If he is exhausted, there are times when we can just leave the room and he falls asleep right away (those are my favorite nights haha).

 I did some research on this method before we tried it out.  When we tried to sleep train in the past, leaving the room wasn’t helpful, so I figured that the best thing for us would be to stay with him in the room until he is fully asleep.

I just want to add that your child will not be traumatized if you do the CIO method. They won’t remember that mom and dad left them in their room to sleep on their own. Toddlers and children are resilient and they will not feel like you abandoned them, and doing so will not change the way they feel about you.

However, if this method is not for you and you choose to do another one, these tips will still apply. You can check out this website for a list of different methods that you can use.

If you’re looking for some foolproof ways to sleep train your 2-year-old, you’ve come to the right place. Check out all my tips below on sleep training your two-year-old.

**By the way, this post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. I only list products that I love and feel that my readers will benefit from. Thank you!**

 

1. How to Sleep Train a 2-Year-Old? Be Consistent

I cannot stress this enough. This was my biggest problem when we tried to sleep train in the past. Every time Milan cried, I just took him out of his crib and put him in our bed. I never tried again because I felt sad for him when he cried. In the past, we did the cry-it-out method but left the room. This time we stayed in the room with him until he went to sleep, and quietly left the room when we knew he was fast asleep.

Honestly, I will not sugar coat anything.  The first couple of days are rough.  They are going to cry anywhere between 30 min to 45 minutes.  And these cries are something you’ve never heard, so be prepared for that.  It is totally normal.

Milan cried so hard I had tears in my eyes. There were times when I felt so bad that I almost took him out, but I stayed strong and held my ground. I was so proud the first night when I watched him on the monitor sleeping in his crib sound asleep.

We make sure Milan is in bed by 8 PM every night. During the first two weeks, each night he cried for less and less, and he eventually started to sleep within 5 to 10 minutes of being in the crib without crying.

The fact that I stayed consistent was how I successfully sleep trained my two-year-old in one week.

 

2. How to Sleep Train a 2-Year-Old? Use Lavender Bubble Bath/Body Wash 

I think that this has helped Milan immensely! Each night before he goes to bed we give him a bath with a Lavender bubble bath and/or body wash.

Lavender is a natural remedy to help improve sleep quality and is very calming and relaxing.

On an evening where we didn’t give him a lavender bath, it took him longer to go to sleep. So I know that the Lavender definitely helps to soothe Milan and get him to sleep faster. This is the go-to remedy that helped us sleep train our two-year-old.

 

3.How to Sleep Train a 2-Year-Old? Lavender Essential Oil & Diffuser

Before Milan’s bedtime, we add lavender essential oil into the diffuser in his room. We start this around 15 to 20 minutes before his bedtime routine starts.

Just like the bubble bath, the essential oil adds a relaxing and calming vibe to his room that helps him go to sleep faster.

We use this essential oil and this diffuser.

Keep in mind that not all essential oils have pure ingredients. Always do your research before finding a legit essential oils brand. I like Young Living as they are reputable and all their products are made with quality ingredients.

Using lavender might be my favorite tip for sleeping training.

4. How to Sleep Train a 2-Year-Old? Bedtime Massage

Before Milan’s bath, I always give him an oil massage to help him sleep peacefully. A massage helps with stimulating the central nervous system and helps reduce stress.

Research shows that massages help release serotonin which is the body’s “anti-pain” chemical. By massaging your child, it helps them have a more corrective sleep.

Imagine how good massages feel for us, toddlers love massages, especially before bedtime. I have mistakingly missed massaging Milan before bedtime and have noticed that it’ll take longer for him to go to bed.

So mamas and dadas, if you’re sleep training your toddler, make sure you massage them so that they go to sleep faster.

 

5. How to Sleep Train a 2-Year-Old? Cut your toddlers naps down

Milan would nap every day from anywhere around 1.5 to 3 hours. To be honest I loved his long naps because I was able to get more things done. But, his long naps were causing him to be up later in the evening because he had slept so much during the day.

We cut the naps down drastically so that by the time his bedtime routine started, he would be starting to feel sleepy.

We let him sleep anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour. Some days he wakes up on his own, but if not, we will go into his room and gently wake up him.

I have found no issues in doing this and he doesn’t seem groggy or upset when we wake him up.

 

6. How to Sleep Train a 2-Year-Old? Create a quiet vibe before bedtime

Another way that I successfully sleep trained my two-year-old, is by creating a quiet vibe an hour before bedtime..This helps Milan to not feel overstimulated before bed.

We like to keep the lights low and turn all electronics and TV off.

This creates a peaceful and quiet environment and is the start of his routine. We keep a small light on in his room for storytime. Once storytime is over, the lights go off and Milan goes into his crib.

You can also use a white noise machine, as it helps soothe toddlers. Milan has never used one so we don’t put ours on. However, I’ve heard from a lot of friends that the Dream Egg white noise machine is amazing!

 

7. You can be flexible with bedtime once you have fully sleep trained your two-year-old

Because we now have Milan in a proper routine at home, we don’t stress over him being in bed every single night at 8 PM.

There are times when we’re at our family’s house and we aren’t going to leave at 8 because it’s Milan’s bedtime (that is way too extreme in my opinion). We want to be able to have fun and stay up late occasionally and let Milan adjust.

If we know we will be home late, we always take a pair of his pajamas with us, so that when he’s sleeping in the car it’s easier for us to transport him into his crib.

For the first 2 weeks of sleep training my two-year-old, we made sure that if we were out and about, we’d be home by 8 PM. We wanted to make sure that our evening routine at home was working out before we started tweaking his bedtime. Once we knew he was properly sleep trained then we didn’t mind if there were a few nights where he went to sleep later.

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There you go, my tips on how to sleep train a two-year-old. I honestly didn’t think that it would even happen. I thought I was going to have that kid who slept with their mommy and daddy forever.

The extra time I have for myself in the evening is amazing. As I’m writing this blog post, I have a sleeping toddler in his crib. I wouldn’t have been able to write this post if I hadn’t started sleep training at the beginning of the month.

I am so grateful for this extra time that I have to work on myself and spend quality time with my husband. It’s definitely a win-win situation for all. Trust me if I can do it, anyone can.

Be strong. Be consistent and don’t back down. I hope your sleep training journey is as successful as mine.  I also hope these tips give you the motivation to start sleeping training your two-year-old now (or any age child for that matter). 

And remember, these tips don’t only apply to two-year-olds.  You can use these tips for any age, and they will work just fine.

Happy sleep training

Do you have any other awesome sleep training tips for a two-year-old? Comment below