abby1998
10-28-2008, 07:00 PM
I need some ideas for this: My 18 month old goes to sleep fine on his own at night. I put him in his crib and he goes to sleep shortly after. However I have been cuddling him to sleep for his naps since he was very young. It's getting to the point where it sometimes takes me over an hour to get him to nap and I have to almost hold him down. I have tried breaking this habit by doing the same thing I do at night but he just stays awake in his crib for hours and will not go to sleep! It can be very frustrating because if he doesnt nap he is just the most cranky unhappy thing! Im wondering if I have been doing this too long that I wont be able to get out of this rut. Has anyone been through this???
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megss
10-28-2008, 10:39 PM
I cuddle my DD to sleep, for both naps and night time. She is 13.5 months old. We co-sleep, so this is why I do it. My mom watches her on Wednesdays, and at her house she does go to sleep by herself in a crib, so lately I have been trying to get her to fall asleep on her own at night, just because I have so much to do and I want to go to bed earlier. Every once in awhile it works if she can hear me roaming around upstairs, but for the most part she just cries. Sometimes when I think she is sleeping, and I try to get up from the bed, she immediately jumps up and grabs my hair so I can't go anywhere! I will admit that I do get a little frustrated at times, because, like you, it can her an hour to fall asleep. I've tried putting her to bed later and that makes no difference.
It probably is a habit, and will be very hard to break. When we are ready to move DD out of our bed (probably when we have another baby), we plan on getting her a youth bed and putting it right next to our bed, so the transition is a little easier for all of us.
Have you tried giving him a stuffed animal or a blanky to cuddle with? DD has never loved any of her blankies or stuffed toys, so I have been putting her to sleep with one, trying to encourage her to feel comforted by it. She wakes up about a million times between when she goes to bed and when I do because she knows I am not there yet, so I am hoping that, if she loved a blanky, then she could cuddle up to it and put herself back to sleep.
It probably is a habit, and will be very hard to break. When we are ready to move DD out of our bed (probably when we have another baby), we plan on getting her a youth bed and putting it right next to our bed, so the transition is a little easier for all of us.
Have you tried giving him a stuffed animal or a blanky to cuddle with? DD has never loved any of her blankies or stuffed toys, so I have been putting her to sleep with one, trying to encourage her to feel comforted by it. She wakes up about a million times between when she goes to bed and when I do because she knows I am not there yet, so I am hoping that, if she loved a blanky, then she could cuddle up to it and put herself back to sleep.
simplyheather
10-29-2008, 02:06 PM
I do it too! At daycare they said that he goes to sleep just fine on his own, and sometimes will even point to his little cot.... Well, he will NEVER do this for me. He wants me to hold him while he's going to sleep. Don't let me fool you, I love it though. Any chances I can get to hold him now are rare, since he is 15 months and thinks he needs to be running around all over the place. It is a habit, and I'm sorry I have no advice to tell you how to stop it... I'm in the same place. After he falls asleep I have to wait a min of 15 minutes before I can put him down, otherwise we have to start all over b/c he wakes up.
AlexaIn2006
10-29-2008, 03:38 PM
I also cuddle and hold my daughter for naps and bedtime. She is 2.5 and I still do this, sometimes it will take an hour, but I let her chose a stuffed animal and I firmly remind her it is time to go to sleep several times and she will close her eyes. I often take my nails and run them around her face or up and down her arms or legs to calm her. We usually have no problems.
abby1998
10-29-2008, 03:41 PM
I used to love it too, I found it was great for bonding time with us...especially when theyre at the age that the dont want to be held at all. But just recently it has been getting annoying. Probably since he is almost 19 months old and not so much of a baby anymore. He just wants to fight it everytime. He does have a special sheep his sleeps with in his crib and it works at night. Just not for naps :confused:

