How to get almost 3 year old to self settle to sleep

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Hi, my DS will be 3 in a few months, he is fairly good at bedtime, but it can take me anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half to get him to sleep.
I used to give him a bath, bottle, stories and then lay beside him in bed until he went to sleep.
I have managed to retreat a bit from the routine, so that instead of laying next to him in the bed, I sit on a chair next to his bed and wait for him to fall asleep. Some times he wants a cuddle and for me to put a reasuring hand on his back, other times he is happy for me to just sit there until he is asleep.
I do have the odd few nights, where I think he has settled enough to start going to sleep then he keeps asking to go and sit on the sofa for a cuddle. I have managed to be strong willed and have just sat by his door to stop him getting out. He eventually gives in and I can put him back to bed.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can move on to get him to self settle and perhaps to go to sleep a bit quicker.

I think that his nap during the day plays a part in it. Sometimes he can go all day with out a nap and other days, he needs one and can not stay awake.

Sorry this is a bit long winded.

Thanks

Can you post his routine including wakeup time, naptime/length & bedtime (time you try to put him down & also the time he eventually settles)?

Roughly how many days/week does he nap?

My ds is 2.8 & naps approx 2 days a week now. From age of 2 we realised that while the nap stays he would need a later bedtime than his former 7/7.30 & so on nap days he goes to bed at 8pm & if he doesnt nap then its 6.30-7pm. This seems to work really well & we no longer get messing around for ages before he goes to sleep.

Hi, That sounds like a good plan/idea to follow.

He naps about 3 or 4 days a week. Most of the time he sleeps just after lunch time but on some occassions he stays awake till mid/late afternoon. I have tried to keep his bath time/bed time routine at the same time, weather he naps early afternoon or late afternoon. Perhaps I should try doing the bedtime routine a bit later if he sleeps later in the afternoon.
I usual give him a bath around 7-7.15pm. So that I am putting him in bed about 7.30pm. Was thinking that perhaps I should start the routine off a bit earlier in the evening ??
He naps during the day from anywhere between 45mins to 2 hours. What ever time he falls asleep in the evening, early or late he still wakes up about 6.30am.

Do you think I should alter his routine slighly ??

Thanks

Well iiwy i would try a couple of things.

I would def give a later bedtime a try on the days he naps 2hrs. If its a short nap of 45mins he'll more likely be ready at his usual time.

If the later bedtime doesn't help (give it a few weeks try) then i would look at your nap timing. I found with my ds if he napped too early we'd get messing around at bedtime, early waking or both. So if he regularly goes down before 1pm I would try pushing nap to 1pm earliest, possibly later. I found that by doing this it actually improved his settling time at bedtime.

My ds is 2.8 & he currently naps 2-4pm & bed at 8pm, up around 7am, however, he only naps around twice a week now. If he were napping more frequently i imagine he might take longer to settle.

Your other option of course is to reduce the number of days he naps & you may find this improves how he settles & how long he sleeps at night.x