Sleep refuser

[shemakesmewaitonabedofnails]

Please help!! DS is 19 months old. He slept well until recently (7pm to 5-6am) and I used to be able to put him in his cot and walk away. He'd either go straight to sleep or he'd happily roll around for a few minutes and then sleep. No crying and no more than 20 minutes to sleep.

Now though it takes over an hour and a half to get him to sleep. As soon as I leave the room he's standing crying. So I tell him to lie down, and he does for a few minutes and the stands again. This goes on regardless of whether I go back to him straight away or leave him for a few minutes.

So tonight I thought I'd sit in with him in his room. We've been here now since 7pm and he's rolling around, chattering, just playing. No crying though because I'm here. So that isn't the solution. Help please!! He's still waking up before 6am so he's tired!

Shameless bump, but it took until 8:35pm. He just simply stopped playing, lay down and slept. No tears, no protests. Argh!!

If this is the first night of you sitting in with him, you just need to give it time.

My recommendation would be your stay in the room until asleep, not leaving at all. Do not tolerate him staying or sitting up, and time he does this tap the mattress to get him to stay lying down.

If he's quiet and not upset, ignore him and just be there. If upset, reassure with a hand on chest/back.