14 month DS throwing blankie out of crib and delaying sleep!

[ashersmom]

Hello--

Recently my 14 month DS has begun throwing his blankie out of the crib at both nap time and night time.  He goes to sleep by himself in his crib-usually pretty quickly.  But lately he stands up, throws his blankie out, and cries until someone goes in and gives it back and lays him down.  There is always another blankie or two in the crib---but he only wants the one he's thrown out.
This started about the time he began getting molars and waking at night.  He now wakes several times a night and early in the morning.  The past 2 mornings he's woken around 4 or 4:30, we do put-down as long as we can (usually an hour) and finally bring him into our bed for 45 minutes of wrestless sleep.

What do I do about the blankie throwing??  I feel like I'm reinforcing his behavior by going in and picking it up and putting him down!

TIA!

[Harry's mom]

This is just an idea, but I would do PD (put down) with the blanket and sleep issues. Put a chair next to his crib, and when he gets up and starts to do his blanket throwing routine you can sit on the chair and intervene. The minute he stands up and starts to throw the blanket, I would gently lay him down and say, "night night I love you." He might realize that it isn't really much fun if you are going to stop the behavior before he completes it. Don't show much emotion.....it will make the "game" less fun for him. It may take several nights until he realizes that it isn't really worth his effort because you will just lay him back down anyway. I'm on day #3 of sleep training my LO and the PD method is really working well. He gets mad, and screams, and will cry.......but I am there with him so I know he is just frustrated and not scared or feeling abandoned. Good luck!

[Katet]

My 14mo is almost at the end of teething molars & he has needed  A LOT more TLC. I think it is partly his way of saying "I need you more" From time to time the teddy gets thrown out, but it is usually the times he needs a bit of help to wind down, or his teeth are hurting. I (personally) don't think you are re-inforcing the behaviour unless you make a real game of it... if you just go & calmly give it back & tell him it is time to sleep, you are just re-inforcing his need to know that you do come back when he needs you.

[pixieme]

My ds started this at about the same age too and still occaisionally does.  I too have found that he does it when it needs a little more mummy time.  Just that extra cudle before sleep, or he does it to let me know that he's not really ready for a sleep yet. 

One thing I have done to help at nap time is I have moved his nap back by an hour.  So far it has done the trick because he is now really ready to sleep when I put him in his cot.