26 mo and still sleep crazy!

[bestsmilee]

I haven't posted in a while...living the "this too shall pass" phrase but maybe I could get a little extra advice regarding my 26 month old. He goes in the crib at night and we stay in the room with him (WI/WO will NOT work with him - and honestly we are already too tired to deal with it, so we just stay in the room) until he falls asleep. It seems though that recently he has been screaming more since we put him down in the crib. Sometimes he keeps saying words like "cookie" or "daddy" or "water" about a million times but the only thing we will offer is water and hope that it does the trick. It usually doesn't. I don't know why he is so upset after we are putting him down for bed - I don't want to get into OT/UT logistics either, because that's not it. I'm wondering if there is something else we should be doing? It's really really bothersome (or some other words) to stay in the room listening to him scream night after night (and this can be for some naps too) for up to an hour some times. I don't even want to attempt WI/WO (because I already know that it will not work) but also because he will probably transition to the toddler bed/regular bed soon and we would have to stay in the room with him anyway at that point. He has always had sleep "problems" or whatever you call it, but I figured by 2 years old he would be better. And yes, we are LIGHTYEARS from where we were from when he was months old, and yes, things have gotten easier - but they are definitely NOT EASY. Either my husband or I need to stay in the room with him for at least an hour every single night and although we are used to it, I feel like we have other things to tend to around the house and it's an hour of lost time (every single night) and with #2 on the way, I just would like some advice on how to deal with all of the crazies!!

TIA 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

What does his day look like? Has he ever been an independent sleeper? WI/WO is more meant for kids who have been sonGW might be a better option.

[bestsmilee]

How would GW work in his case?

His day is something like this...WU anywhere between 6-8am. Has been going to nap around 1:30 now...and we cap it at 1 hr or 45 min (if he sleeps longer then he doesn't go to sleep until much later - although he is impossible to calm down after we wake him so I know he is definitely tired) and then PD around 7:45ish and he usually falls asleep by 8:30/8:45.
He won't really take a nap if he wakes up at 8. Today he woke at 7 and he went down for a 1:25 nap. I will need to wake him at 2:20 because I have an appt. He may need a schedule overhaul...

[Lindsay27]

I wonder if it's just an age thing?  My DS did this also and he would come up with EVERY excuse in the book not to go to sleep...he needs water, a different blanket, he's hungry, he needs the light in the hall on, he's too hot, too cold, his socks feel funny...anything, literally ANYTHING he could think of.  Or, he would pitch everything in his crib out (his lovely, his soother, blankie) and knowing he can't sleep without any of those things we'd have to go in to retrieve them. Things have gotten better but we still deal with a lot of this even to this day at 31 months.

We've done both GW and WI/WO (which is pretty much what we are at now) and I stand outside his room and just re-assure him until he's quiet and then I leave.  With GW I initially stayed with him until he was asleep and then over time made my way to the door, talking to him.  Or I'd sit in the rocking chair which is sort of on the other side of the room.  Believe me, LOTS of crying and lots of re-assurance but if you are really consistent and can deal with the crying (which many nights I couldn't lol) you will make progress.

[bestsmilee]

Yea, it's probably an age thing. How would transitioning him to a bed be with this behavior? I imagine he'd be the same except harder to keep put in the bed. I really can't even imagine that we would be able to put him down and say good night and leave the room unless he was a lot older. I've kind of braced myself for that reality. I think we are going to have to stay in the room with him no matter what...