How to get my daughter to sleep?

Hi and thanks in advance.
my dautgter is 2 1/2 years old me and my wife have not changed any thing in her life.
up till about 31/2 weeks ago evrything was great.
now with every night she screams for 30 min to 1 hour or more, when its time for bed.
I've tried to bring her to bed with me and the wife and it still do's not help, some times it makes it worse. all she wants to do is go down stairs. and not sleep. I'm at my wits end. what can I do to help my duagter sleep at night. please help.

I should add more that when she has gone to sleep she will wake up screaming and thats more when she screams and want to go down stairs.
Sue90 ty for your asnwer but I have had her doing this for about 2 weeks before we brought her into our bed. She has been left in her room for up to 3 hours doing this screaming ( at a great discomfured to me and my wife).

When my daughter was young we found that if we got her to physically play and laugh an hour or two before bedtime it helped a lot. The last half hour before she is to go to bed let her quiet down with very little activity. We found that by doing this she was tired and didnt fight at bedtime. Reading a bedtime story when you put her to bed helps too. It gets the imagination going and often just drift off to sleep.

Dear worryeddad,
Well the key is to not let your child have her way. I know this sounds cruel to some and difficult to others but a child only reacts when they think they can get their way. So let her scream and cry for an hour. Always being near by so you know the child is safe but do not give in. Of course she wants to go downstairs where the party is...why should she have to sleep if you don't. Kids are not only cute but they are very smart. Never bring a child to bed with you...when a child is sick you go to their bed because this again sets up a power position with them in control. So for the next little while you do what you've always done...but the child to bed and close the door leaving just a gap. Make sure the light isn't on her face or she can't see you. Sit outside the door while she tries to convince you that she is the boss. Let her cry and believe me she'll get very tired. This may take a few days or even a few weeks but by letting her know the rules and that they are not in control she will soon decide to find another battle lol.
Sue...good luck

You schould play with her intill it's night time for her to go to sleep.She'll be slepping all night. try it

never never never. play with your child before bed time..for some odd reason, I do not know, poeple think that if you play with them it will wear them out, chya rite. it makes them hyper-er. This is what I do with my two year old. Everynight after supper time(which is around 5) I let her play in her room for a while, or..just do some sort of playing..even if it's going outside for a lil bit with my little sister so I can clean up supper. this will wear her out a lillte..but only her bones..then I give her a small snack and a glass of water or milk..but not too much so she doesn't wet the bed. Once snack time is over the two girls go and get ready for bed(brushing teeth, putting pj's on) I let them pick out a book each and I read it too them, no matter how long each one is..sometimes, it's the longer the better..right now we're actually reading a chapter book to help instigate imagination..there are some pictures to help in it though, sometimes I let them draw while I read to them. Do not let them have a television in there room..it'll only keep them up at night. If your house is not silent when it's time for bed, they will want to come down and see what's going on..so, for about an hour or so after you lay her down, try going in your room and laying on your bed with a book. By doing this, you will show her, it's bed time..Everyone else is sleeping and you don't want to wake them up..If she get's up, make sure you don't through a fuss because she will only be excited by it and want the attention more. When she get's up, calmly put her back to bed. If she continues to scream for more than 5 minutes after this, go in and ask her what's wrong. Make sure to not use any sort of babying voice because this will also excite them..Basicly, keep everything calm and cool and collected, I know it's hard, but it all pulls through. I promise. Make sure you keep her on a schedule. If you ever have anymore questions.feel free to ask me.

READ TO HER

hi, umm im not a parent but I hope im still some help.
I didnt sleep properly until I was 4 years old, it wasnet the fact that I wasent tired or I wanted to go downstairs and play it was because I felt insecure in my bedroom.hence why I would scream all nite.
when I turned 4 my mum and dad made me sleep in the spare bedroom while they were decorating my bedroom and every night I went to bed and didnt scream once. for the first time I felt secure. im now turning 16 and still in the same bedroom. I dont know if this can help you but it certainly helped my parents,

try changing where they sleep or change the way her room looks so it will ake her feel more comfortable.

good luck
x

Lauren...makes another point I didn't express...do not over stimulate a child with things in their rooms. The colours should be pastel and soft. There should be no stimuli in a room such as toys, pictures, fancy colour curtains etc. As parents we tend to decorate rooms elaborately with pictures of princess and pink walls for little girls and race cars and blue walls for little boys. Avoid this a much as possible.
Sue...good luck

u can make her drink hot drinks and soups ..or yogert its so good for kids who have energy like I was mom used to make me have yougert every time I coudent sleep and it work like magic ..sure not the ones with sugar ..make her learn strong sports like football and sutsh so she will give a lot of her energy throw the day ...then when the night comes she will sleep like a baby .. trust me

we have this baby musical thing that lights up and sings lullabys that may work I use it on my son and it always worked on him. for some reason I cant find it so I cant tell you what it is called but I think the brand was fisher price there is also rainforest: the waterfall peek- a -boo soother that would work the same