DS and I went on a month long holiday and we came back home about 3 weeks ago. We had to share a bed the whole trip and for the first 3 weeks we were sleeping in a different place every few days. So I ended up staying with him until he fell asleep and of course for each NW, I was there next to him. When we came back, I anticipated problems, and with the jet-lag and all the AP'ing that went on during the holiday, we indeed had lots of SA problems during BT and lots of NWs (5 or 6 initially when we came back). So I started doing GW and it's now a little bit better. I can be out of the room during BT and NWs have reduced to 1 on a good day. We even had 1 night of STTN
The problem though is that on most nights, DH or I still end up having to stay in the room till he falls asleep. I think we have a bit of a routine problem and was hoping someone might cast an eye over it? At the moment, DS goes to daycare 4 days a week and he tends to sleep from about 12.40 to 2pm there. So i'm sticking to this nap at home too. So here's his normal routine:
8am - wake
12.40 - 2pm - nap (at daycare) 1pm - 2pm (at home)
8.30pm - BT
The problem is, he never seems tired at BT, and it can take him up on average an hour to fall asleep! If it only takes him 30 minutes, we count ourselves lucky.. Because he never seems tired, all sorts of antics are happening at BT. Usually he'll be out of the BBB not long after i leave the room, usually to ask to go to the toilet (we're attempting PT as well), even though he doesn't do anything when I do put him there. Yesterday, i ignored him when he said he wanted to go so he started mantra crying by the door (we have a gate in his doorway and leave the door open when he's trying to fall asleep) and eventually, he took all his clothes off and I had to go in to get his clothes back on!! And so it goes on. I put him to bed at 8.30pm again today and thought i would just stay with him today to see how it goes. He kept moving around in the bed so I went to stand by the door. He came out of the BBB and I took him back a few times without talking or maintaining eye contact. And then he asked to sleep in the cot (we still have it set up because that's where he was sleeping before we went on our holiday but he hasn't been wanting to sleep there since we got back). So he's now in the cot and is occassionally calling to me. I'm just ignoring him for now but am sure it will escalate.
I think he ends up being OT by the time he falls asleep around 9.30pm or sometimes 10pm. But i'm not sure what to try tweaking in my routine. Should I try waking him up earlier so that he has a more equal 6h A before and after nap? Rather than a 5h A before and 6.5h A after? I had already pushed him BT from 8pm to 8.30pm in the hopes that this will help but it really hasn't. Am at a loss.. And i'm sure the BT antics causes the OT when he finally sleeps which then also causes the NW!! So I really need to nip this in the butt.. I just don't know what to try at the moment..
