Rocking 2YO to sleep

[68439054185a]

My son has just turned 2, was notoriously an awful sleeper and we done sleep training around a year old.. it worked within a few days and went from waking every hour overnight to sleeping through and getting himself to sleep.

Somewhere between then and now We’ve ended up stopping laying him down in his cot (bed now) and currently we just sit on the rocking chair in his room with him while he has his milk and falls asleep. Can’t remember exactly when this started but think it was whilst he was really poorly, then it just become easier to sit with him until he’s fallen asleep than deal with the potential tantrums now he’s older and isn’t contained in a cot to protest bedtime

its no big deal sitting with him, and quite enjoy sitting with him most of the time whilst he’s peaceful after sometimes days of screaming crying and tantrums. we have no issues with bedtime this way and he just takes about 20 mins to drink all his milk and go to sleep and then just put him in his bed and don’t hear from him until the morning (unless he’s poorly)

just wondering really if he’ll naturally grow out of this or if I’m making a rod for my own back here and going to get stuck rocking a teenager to sleep 🤣

Can’t comment on the “growing out of it” - I still hold my 3yo until he falls asleep 😅🙈 Occasionally he tells me he wants to get into bed and fall asleep there but usually he likes to fall asleep on me.

Id be careful with him having milk right before he falls asleep though - is he not having his teeth brushed before bed?

Just sitting here with my nearly two year old who has fed to sleep and once she's settled properly I'll lift her into the cot. She generally sleeps until morning unless wind/teething.

I'm not worrying about what happens next! I know at some point, feeding to sleep won't work any more and we'll change the routine. I worried so much with my first child as to whether I was doing the right thing etc etc. it was all pointless worry and probably made things worse 😂 just enjoy the snuggles and peace - if you are happy and he is happy, don't worry about what is the 'right thing'.

Do you know any 18 year olds who are rocked to sleep by their parents? They all grow out of it! If you’re happy emotionally supporting your toddler, keep going. It’s never a bad thing!

Is he having his milk from a bottle? When my DD stopped breastfeeding I started using sippy cup in the evening so she would have her milk a bit before bedtime and then we chilled a bit by the bed and then I would lay her down and stay next to her until she fell asleep.

@Inyourwildestdreams Currently brushing teeth before his milk and then first thing in the morning. Honestly never really thought anything of it

@catsnore good to know someone else does too, all I see are everyone’s children perfectly tottling off to bed on their own and going straight to sleep 😂

@Olika yes, milk from a bottle. Every other drink he’s had in a cup from around a year but kept the 1 bottle before bed. I kept trying to give him milk in a cup but t he just refuses to drink it!

@68439054185a I would definitely try and change up the routine if you can for his teeth. Milk contains a lot of sugar (lactose) so essentially you’re brushing his teeth then giving a sugary drink which coats the teeth and is staying there all night. The ideal scenario is to brush teeth at least 30 mins after drinking his milk.

Perhaps you could try to give him milk in a straw cup? If you could get him to have his milk a bit earlier and then brush his teeth and then go to bed. I had to work to get my DD break her milk association to sleep but now she can go to bed even without milk at all if she is full enough.

I remember going on holiday with someone who had done this with their toddler. By now child was 10 and he couldn’t go to sleep without her on the room sat with him.

we all sat downstairs finishing supper, having a drink relaxing. Some evenings she be up there an hour others she never came back down

i don’t know what happened afterwards, I think she was embarrassed so never mentioned it.

I get into bed and cuddle my 2.5 yo to sleep (got her a double for this precise reason) however I would really stop the milk or at least bring it before teeth cleaning. It’s so sugary. I’m surprised your dentist hasn’t told you off for this! Mine has mentioned it every time DD has been despite her not having had milk at bedtime since she was 1!

My mum cuddled us all to sleep in bed and said other than being ill we all grew out of it by the time the next sibling came along

If it's not an issue for you then carry on. Sleepy snuggles are nice and don't last forever. If it is an issue for you then sleep train him again. It worked before, so you should find it fairly straightforward. Don't do it just because others do though, your choice.