CC disaster at naptime, do I try again tonight?

[shufflebum]

Ds (15months) has always been cuddled until virtually asleep then put down. This has been fine (in fact I love it ) sometimes he has needed hands on him and some shushing before he goes off but recently this has not worked. I tried gradual withdrawal with no success either so at lunchtime tried CC. DH was here and did most of it going in every couple of minutes to resettle him but after an hour he was still screaming with gusto and we caved and DH picked him up and cuddled him to sleep.

Have we just made the situation worse? Does he now know if he screams for an hour we'll give up. Do we try again tonight? He only slept for an hour rather than the usual two and seems okay but hopefully he will be pretty tired come bedtime as a result.

hopeful bump before tea

Oh, this happened to me today too. Am now listening to him chatting away and NOT going to sleep at bedtime....not crying though, and it's only been 7min...

I'd say try again. Bedtimes are different to naps

I think achieving self settling at nap times is a lot harder than doing it at bedtime. perhaps work on the bedtime first then be a bit more flexible with naps as they don't all have to be in the cot?

I could NEVER get DS to nap in his cot on his own. He does go to sleep well at night and has done since he was quite little (around 1), with a few blips. I could always cope with him not sleeping in his cot at naptime but bedtime was and is sacrosanct so I have persevered in the evenings. I would give it a go at bedtime, but if you decide to do it do NOT give in. It's only harder next time.

I never did CC either by the book. If DS was crying and upset I would go in, even if I'd only just left. If however he was crying and angry I would leave him. Definitely a different sort of cry.

Well, result this evening! He was definitely tired after only an hours nap. Put him down sleepy but awake, stroked his head and then left. Cue immediate crying but not the heartbreaking wailing that we had earlier. I waited 4 minutes then went back in laid him back down, stroked his back and bingo! Am very proud of my little man. Very few tears from him and none from me!

Think like many of you say I will forget about CC at nap times it was just that I thought I might have more staying power then! Nursery seem to manage to just put him down but I'll stick with my cuddles

Ah but nursery isn't his mummy

You could find out what their routine is to see if you can try it?

Too right! His mummy is a soft touch
I have asked them, put in sleeping bag, put in cot, leave, job done simple! I asked if he ever cries and they said rarely, they have several children sleeping in each room in travel cots so they can't really let them make too much noise otherwise they will wake the others up.

They make it sound so simple.........

Is there a reason why you want to stop cuddling him to sleep?

seeker I don't want to stop the cuddles but would love bedtime to be a bit more predictable. Getting him down can take anything from 10 minutes to an hour and a half. I often work in the evenings with clients coming to the house and so I need to be able to roughly know that he will be asleep by a certain time.
Tonight was okay, had lots of stories and cuddles with his milk put him down and he settled himself in 10 minutes with me going in once. Won't deny it's not hard though.