I have just held the door of my 24 month old toddler's bedroom shut until she stopped trying to open it (took about 10 minutes). She screamed the house down and trashed her room a bit but then got in bed.

Background is she recently moved to a toddler bed and was OK for a couple of weeks but has now completely rebelled and has even been found asleep on the landing in the early hours of the morning (dangerous - stairs are an awkward design and no gate can be fitted).
For the best part of a year she has been taking her afternoon nap in my bed, with me, but I have decided to stop this as she may be confused that she can sleep in my bed during the day but not at night. So, today I instigated afternoon nap in the toddler bed by herself. I held the door shut because at night when I do the repeated putting back to bed strategy it can take 2-3 hours and so there's no point doing it in the afternoon - I knew keeping the door shut would be quicker.

I'm planning on doing it again tonight, after making a real nice fuss of her when she gets up and doing fun stuff all afternoon.

Will anyone on here admit to doing the same?

I know you say your stairs could not accomodate a stair gate but coudn't you just put one on her bedroom door??? Works a treat for my little one.

Yeah we have a gate fitted to our kids bedroom door as we don't really have a landing so it's quite dangerous if they got out in the night. You can now get like pop up type gates that fit any door I think?

I know they say toddlers ought to have afternoon naps but I only found one of my three children that were that bothered about it. I don't think there is any real reason why a toddler has to go upstairs in the afternoon for a nap. I used lots of safety gates to keep toddler out of kitchen and had a travel type cott for them to play in when I was tidying up and if they were tired they lay down. If your child is getting up and lying on the landing then its not to be with you, its because she for some reason doesn't like being in her room. Maybe you could redecorate it and let her pick some things to put in it. Put some toys where she can play quietly if she wakes. Makes sure she has water available. What sort of stairs doesn't fit a stairgate? There are so many kinds out there. I had a spring loaded adjustable one that I took on holiday with me, never found a door way it couldn't fit.

I too have a toddler who hates bed time and it can be a nightmare, we did the holding the door thing for a few weeks now she just screams for hours and hours at bedtime, but i do not put her to be in the daytime, if she wants a sleep she just settles down on sofa

What sort of stairs doesn't fit a stairgate?

In our old house (a terrace) the stairs came further up than the wall and therefore we would have only been able to have the gate on a step not on the landing. We didn't feel this was safe.

We also have a gate on our son's door. Initially it was just for safety, now it is also so he stays in his room and drops back off rather than wandering around if he wakes up in the night. Try a gate. It means you don't actually have to shut the door, they can see out and are less likely to be frightened. I wouldn't use it in the day though. My little boy stopped having a sleep every day before he was 2 and I wouldn't make him have one.

I haven't held the door shut, but when my oldest was around 3 and determined to be up, I used the rope method described by Dr Green in Toddler Taming. It involves tying a rope around the door handle and securing it to something, e.g. Another door in the same hall. The rope should allow the door to be opened, but not enough for them to be able to get their head through - where the head goes, the body can follow. This way the door is not shut - they can see out, and are not alone in their room. You'd allow crying for 2 minutes, then go in, put them back in bed, stay till they are calm, then go out for 4 minutes, and repeat, always staying till they are calm, and doubling the time you leave them each time.
What I would say is, some children will respond to this, others won't. Some need more reassurance, some need a firm stand. You know your child best.

I have had consistently good results with controlled crying with both my children, but I do understand that it isn't for everyone.

My daughter has a 'cow clock' as she calls it. http://www.arf-kids.co.uk/ She knows when the cow is in bed she needs to be, and when it gets up she is allowed to do so. Works at treat so never needed the door holding method.

Thanks for the replies.
We did the rope thing tonight. It seems to have worked. There was again protest but she got in bed after about 5 minutes.
I see refusing access in and out of her bedroom when it is "sleep time" the same as when we refused to let her out of the cot (unless ill etc). We used a fairly strict cry-it-out technique for her cot sleeping and found it to be very successful and plan to do the same with her bed sleeping.
I think the new freedom that a bed brought was a little too overwhelming for her so we have removed some of that freedom to let her feel safe again! She is now in a bedroom sized cot. I don't think the reason she was asleep on the landing was because she all of a sudden doesn't like her room (as suggested), I think it is because she was confused and very tired.
We, as her parents, can now sleep without the constant worry that she will fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. Somebody mentioned that a stair gate can be fitted anywhere... well trust me not on our stairs. Our daughters bedroom door is also only 58cms wide so we are struggling to find gate that fits.

Is the rope taken off at parent's bedtime or is it left on all night? Just wondered that was all :)

It's left on because it is the time that we are asleep that we are most concerned about her safety.
Although, after a couple of nights she now doesn't even try opening the door and seems much happier.
It's definitely working for us (for the time being at least).

our son was the same, fine for 2 weeks then not sure what happened but he wouldnt get in bed, would scream, kick the door (i was holding it closed) & eventualy he would get back in bed, we did the wait afew minutes then go in & each time it would get longer, we also go this bedding http://www.bumpto3.com/sleep/Bedding_sets_and_duvets it is fab & he loves it. after 3 weeks he went back to getting in bed & staying there like nothing had ever happened.

hope you find something that works for you.

Is the rope taken off at parent's bedtime or is it left on all night? Just wondered that was all :)

I would always remove it as soon as my son would agree to stay in bed, and after realising the rope would go straight back on if he didn't, we had a deal.

I suppose it depends on a few things, but we have a stairgate, so didn't need him locked in.

My son empties all his drawers, sudocrem, talc and nappies go everywhere if he's left to his own devices in the morning.... I think terrible 2's are coming up fast!! He has a gate on his room but can now open it!