DS is 24 months old [as of the 5th!] & we cold turkey transitioned him to his BBB approx. 9 days ago. DS was sleep trained as a baby & has always been a good sleeper. Before the transition he was sttn, falling asleep at his 8pm bedtime within 10-20 minutes & waking at 7am like clockwork, as well as having 1 solid 1.5-2 hour nap each day. With the BBB transition, he is sleeping through the night, with the exception of a waking or two where DH or I have to go in & kind of sit by his bed until he falls back to sleep, usually within a few minutes - 10 minutes. However, he will only allow ME to put him down for his naps/bedtime. For the first few nights/days I had to sit at the edge of his bed until he fell asleep, usually taking around 20 minutes. Then I started leaning up against his bedroom door. The past 5 days or so have actually gotten worse, it seems. It takes longer for him to fall asleep [45 minutes sometimes] & he can be quite rambunctious for a while [I'm wondering if he's OT]. I try to make little contact, but it's hard when he's getting out of his bed or kicking the wall. I've tried a couple of times to leave his room & stand outside the door, but he immed. comes to the door, crying, which breaks my heart. He's also started waking earlier, between 6 & 6:30am. One morning this week he woke up at 5am! Naps are also a bit shorter & different. With him waking earlier in the morning, he gets tried earlier in the day so his nap is at least 30 minutes earlier & he's waking from them at least 30 minutes if not an hour early...so then I'm not sure if I should put him to bed earlier than his normal 8pm bedtime. Currently we're starting wind down a bit early, but even so with it taking him SO long to get to sleep, he doesn't end up asleep until between 8:20 & almost 9pm some nights.
I'm 7 months pregnant, so that's why we started the transition now, rather than waiting. I actually would have liked to have waited a few more months. But he was starting to figure out how to get his leg over the crib rail...learning to climb out was inevitable.
So help is needed. Since he was sleep trained before, should be try WI/WO instead of what I'm doing? I read in the FAQ that WI/WO works better for sleep trained toddlers, while gradually leaving the room is better for kids that already weren't the best sleepers.
Is he waking early because he's OT? Should I be putting him to bed earlier at night or sticking which his regular 8pm bedtime [even though he doesn't end up sleeping until 8:30pm or so]? What about naps? Should I put him down early for those if he wakes early in the morning, or wait until the regular time?
