4YO Bedtime Battle

Hi folks, bedtime is my kiddo has been a battle all summer. She’s 3y10m, and I’m wondering if I just need to ride out the phase, change something with her schedule or routine, or… idk. Help!

We typically start bath at around 6:30, read books around 7, and historically had her down by 7:30. When that was working, she’d sleep solidly until 6:15-6:30. Lately it’s been a fight until 8:30 or even 9, and she’s always up between 5 and 5:30… and refuses to nap during the day too.

With a back rub we can get her down more quickly, but my partner and I disagree on whether we should be doing that. I (dad) lean toward ripping off the bandaid with a couple weeks of battling and repeatedly getting kiddo back into bed. Mom leans toward back rubs and weaning her off of them as the weeks go on — but my fear with that is that we’re just delaying the battle until another day.

Regardless, at the end of the day I know consistency is key and my partner and I need to pick a path. So I’m coming to Reddit for advice on how we might be able to find our way out of this. TIA!