Ds is screaming his head off!

[colditzmum]

I need some moral support here. For the past 2 weeks my 21 mo ds has screamed for at least an hour when I put him to bed. I do the routine, he settles nicely for 5 minutes, and then he screams..........and screams.....and screams. He hasn't been ill, nothing has frightened him, he is non-verbal andf can't tell me what he wants. He now has a mild cold, I am treating it with calpol and tixilix night remedy on the advice of the pharmacist. He is usually tired when he goes to bed, but it makes no difference whether he is tired or not - he screams anyway. I never put him in his cot as a punishment, I hate it when he screams like this, I have tried controlled crying but to be honest, I thought we were over all that this time last year! Anyone have any suggestions?

do the c/c again, because every time you go in whilst doing the routine,he is getting reassurance from you that everything is ok, whereas leaving him there he is only getting more and more unsettled and u too,at least if you go in every 5mins he knows you are there and you also tell him its night night sleep, imo,
and he will eventually like going to sleep

anyone?

Awww,I'm sort of going through this with my 14 month old old, I usually end up rubbing his back to be honest.
Hope it's a phase, can be draining. Good luck and hope he settles for you.

Thankyou, yes it is draining, he wakes about 3 times in the night, and we go through the same thing each time - it really was easier when he was a newborn!

Yeah it certainly is reminiscent of those early days.
Have you got the mattress raised if he has a cold , might help with breathing for him.
And when they are ill it does unfortunately muck the sleep pattern up, it seems.

He doesn't stay where I put him in his cot, so if I raised the mattress I would probably find a curled up, neglected looking heap of toddler at the bottom of the cot! Thanks for the hint though, I did used to do that!

What about lavender oil or olbas?
Or what about white noise like a detuned radio?

what happens if you go in to him and pick up/ cuddle? does he calm down? perhaps he needs extra sympathy whilst poorly? i wouldnt do cc when poorly.

If I go in he jumps up and down in his cot with a big grin on his face - the minute I make him lie down it's angry wails.

He has gone to sleep now - I think the last 3 nights have caught up on him

sound like my boy, the little monkey.
I wonder if he has you worked out?
Maybe a change of tack is the answer although not sure what.

Think he has me worked out........last night I gave up at 4 am (but 4AM!!!!!) went downstairs and warmed a bottle of milk.......... by the time I got to the top of the stairs he was asleep. And taking him into our bed doesn't work, if it did he would sleep their all the time, I wouldn't mind. He divebombs the duvet instead

Again sound like our boy! Although younger.
Is this what we have to come?
Better start thinking now of some strategies, for future use!

Just wait until he finds your credit card and posts it OUT of the front door.........

Right! Oh ye gawds!
Well, I hope you have a settled night with him and hope its just a temp glitch, if not then a change of tactics maybe the way?
Let us know how you get on though.