Ds is 19mths and screams blue murder every time he goes to bed.
I guess if I look back at it, it probably started when DS was about 10mths old. He had a really rough time with teething and illness so for sanity sakes gave him a dummy. He had this for about a month but then it started causing more problems than it was worth so removed it cold turkey, and to be honest he wasn’t that phased by it. He would cry when I put him to bed then, and I just settled him with sh/pat and it seemed to work for the most part.
Then he had another stint of screaming when he started at daycare (at 12mths), and I figured out it was because they stayed in with them until they were asleep. Daycare have now stopped doing this but the screaming continues and it seems to be getting worse.
I started doing WI/WO but that seemed to make it worse, so I now stand at the door where he can’t see me but talk to him until he is quiet. I have been very committed to this for over a month now and it doesn’t seem to be making much difference. If I stay anywhere he can see me he is hysterical and it takes 5 times longer to settle him.
He only cries for a minute or 2 then calms down and I can leave. He will then either go straight to sleep or chat to himself. Either way it is heart breaking and I am over it. I have also just found out I am preggie with #2 so we will have to move into a big bed soon and want this to be resolved before we do that.
They say at daycare he doesn’t cry, and that he is one of their better sleepers (I never thought I would ever hear that). And he also doesn’t do as badly with DH, it is one pathetic yelp and then slience. And he definitely doesn’t do it with my mum when she looks after him.
I don’t think he is scare of his room, as he loves going in there and will play happily in his cot for ages when he wakes up and generally wakes up happy. I have put a nightlight in there to see if that helped and can’t say it has made much of a difference either,
I am pretty sure it isn’t a routine thing as it has been going on way too long for that and if he is UT he will just chat for a while once he has clamed down.
I always make sure he has a long wind-down for both bed and naps and haven’t really changed what we do. We have a rather strict bedtime routine for both naps and nighttime.
He has a teddy which goes to bed with him, and he is very attached to his teddy and will always take it to bed with him, even if we forget to remind him, he will go find teddy
It isn’t a mantra cry as it is very much a protest/mummy’s leaving me cry/scream. SO it is a protest/separation thing-I think.
But how do I handle it?? It has gone on so long that I am stuck on what to do. There are no props to wean him off, and I can’t see that any APOP’ing will help me, cause there is nothing that really assists him in going to sleep (ie: rocking, feeding etc)
Does anyone have any ideas on what I can try next?? I just feel like we are so on the edge of it being CIO and I don’t want to go there. It is literally only 30 seocnds-1 min (a bit longer if he is OT) but it isn’t a nice space for him to be in right before bed time.
Any advice would be great
