Stupid parents need advice!

[Jaffakake]

We've managed to get ourselves in a daft situation of needing to sit in ds (2.10) room whilst he goes to sleep. This has come about from self indulgence on our part - dh works long hours & that 5-10 mins is sometimes the full extent if his daily contact with ds, plus ds dropped his nap & would fall asleep within 5 mins & it was cute to watch!

Anyway, we know this is not good & not helping him gain independence so it needs to stop.

What's the best technique to use? As it's our fault it doesn't seem fair to just let him get upset by it.

Seriously what's wrong with sitting with him for 5-10 mins while he falls asleep? He's still little, and won't be asking you to do it when he's 17.

If it's not really a problem, just you think it should be, why not leave things as they are for now - after all they are so cute falling asleep :)

It's not stupid! We all muddle along and suddenly decide something needs to change. Have you tried telling him you're just going to sit outside the door (door slightly ajar)? Sit there and reassure him you're not far away. Then gradually you can tell him you'll do that and not have to sit there iyswim.

If it is 5-10 minutes I wouldn't be stressing about it, tbh (not compared to the woman who had to pee on a teddy bear rather than leave the room). But if you do want to change it I've heard that gradual retreat can work really well, where you sit a little further away every night.

If you're happy with it and it's not caused a problem, stick with it. If not, gradual retreat

Do whatever works for you is my motto!

He'll soon get bored of you being with him. In the meantime, enjoy the peace and quiet...

In fact I'm lying here next to a sleeping child enjoying the rest :) I know I should go downstairs and do the washing up or something, but she s so damn cute I just like lying her and looking at her finally sleeping face. Oh and mums netting in peace!

The only problem is if we have days when he has trouble turning off or days when he's massively overtired. Then he'll just shout or scream that high pitched annoying toddler scream at me! Then it's just a battle if wills & no one wins.

No point getting in a battle of wills with a toddler I think.

When that happens with us we go back downstairs for "mummy and daddy tv" and I put on the most boring documentary I can find, or a nice calming nature one. I don't play games or get drawn in to anything but she's allowed a cup of milk and some dry cereal. Then we go back up. For bed when she looks tired. Normally then asleep within minutes, no one gets stressed, and it's no big deal.

We all have nights when were not quite ready for bed :)

Maybe he's just growing up & our insistence on sticking to 'the routine' is misplaced.