DS is nearly 2 1/2.
A couple of weeks ago we went through a few painful nights of instigating a change so that I stopped breastfeeding him to sleep and DH now reads to him until he falls asleep. He had a few evenings of crying but now does not get upset that I am no longer feeding him to sleep.
However, settling him to sleep is still taking a ridiculously long time. The quickest DH has managed it has been 45 mins but last night was nearly 2 hours again. He is rarely falling asleep before 9pm whereas previously he was asleep by 7.30pm.
If DH leaves him before he is asleep he will just get out of bed and charge around his room getting in a frantic crying state. He simply will not lie down and stay in bed.
We try to follow a good bedtime routine - quiet play, bath time, pyjamas and then cuddles with a story, but it is not exactly quiet. Putting pyjamas on is frequently a battle interspersed with him running around the room and practicing his forward rolls on the bed. Trying to stop this results in a physical struggle.
Any suggestions? We want to achieve him getting into bed before 7.30, a couple of stories and then self settling.
Any help gratefully received.