DS has never been a great sleeper but he's been really good about going for naps and to sleep at night for ages. Usually, we do the bedtime routine, pop him in his sleeping bag and then lights out, say goodnight, pop him in his cot with dummy and hanky and that's it!
BUT... he went to stay at his grans on Sat night and was fine for her as he always is. On Sunday night he would NOT go to bed. He SCREAMS and crys and it's heartbreaking. He even sometimes gets in such a state that he doesn't breathe in properly. The longest we have left him like this is 5 minutes and we really don't think that leaving him longer would achieve anything. Then after the tantrum he will only calm down with the lights on in a different room. On Sunday he went down at 11pm eventually. Yesterday it was 9pm (usually 7pm). We have only got him to bed after taking him downstairs to watch TV and play first.
Tonight, I refused to let him out of the landing and his bedroom when awake. I sat and watched for 90 mins as he laid his head down in exhaustion in various spots around the room. He emptied the two drawers he could reach and generally created as much havoc and noise as possible. I sat in his room with him and ignored him completely unless he was in danger of hurting himself or hurting me.
Anyway, DH relieved me of my duties at 8:30. DS threw a total tantrum and then laid on his sleeping bag and tried to go to sleep. DH put him in his cot and he fell asleep.
DH usually doesn't have this success...
Question is... why is he doing this? Is he testing us? Protesting at being at his grans? How should we deal with it? (not sure we can do crying it out!).
He is also teething a lot but is calpoled up before bed the last few nights and he is also refusing to go in the bath.
Well done if you've read this far. Sorry it's so long but I'm at my wits end. Expecting baby 2 in 4 months and don't want to get into bad habits!