The Big Toddlers Sleep Thread

Tonight i've started to sleep train my son using the controlled crying method, so far i'm 9 minutes into it, almost crying and hes screaming. I know it's the best thing to do for both of us but its easier said than done, i just want to go get him and cuddle him but if i give in now it's going to be 11pm bed times forever, i need some 'me' time!! Ohhhh this is awful

How old is your son (just out of curiosity!)

Don't falter- I know it's a hard thing to do, but you can't have a constantly tired child who doesn't get enough sleep at night forever, can you?

He's 18 months old.

Exactly Medusa, he's constantly whingy and tired because he doesn't sleep on a night.

Thankfully its taken 45 minutes tonight and he's sleeping peacefully, hope it continues to be this easy!

Glad it's been successful tonight- it's not foolproof, and there will be backwards steps and nights you wonder whether you're doing the best thing, but after the first couple of weeks you'll be seeing enough to make you sure you're doing the best thing for him as well as yourself.

Have you read TODDLER TAMING by Dr Green?? In there he advises to use sedation, obviously cosult your doctor first.

I was gonna type the whole techique but.... you'll probably fall asleep!

You can borrow the book if u want

it may be hard to do, but console yourself with the knowledge that he won't remember it in a week or two!

well done for sticking with it tonight - like you say, if you give in, you're stuck with late nights forever. you deserve some time off, even if he's not happy about it - your routine has completely altered for his benefit, it's actually perfectly reasonable to expect him to be a little bit amenable too.

pmd u tinkabel:thumbsup:

Aww hard work. We did it with twins but we did it very early and did 3 nights on 1 minute, 3 nights on 2minutes etc and never went past 5 minutes. We still have to do it occasionally to get one of them back into the routine but it paid off. We have our evenings again and that time is treasured.

He won't remember and he won't be hurt by it, in the long run you'll both benefit. Hang on in there!

aww bless, i can so sympathise with ya on this one.......however........as each child is different, and responds in different ways to certain "tasks" or "ideas" etc, it is difficult finding out the best way to get your child to sleep without going through experimenting. (i have had 3 babies, & looked after many babies too). My sister did the whole "let him cry and he will drop off" thingy....(when i babysat for her).so i did, and it was awful. All i could do was picture myself in his lil shoes, and wandering why i had been left in my cot etc. Anyway, i also used this technique with my daughter(eldest one, now 23yrs). Both my nephew and my daughter have always been clingy at nitetimes, and have not wanted to go to bed at night as they have got older. With my other 2 children, i tried it once with my son, and couldnt do that anymore. So, i rocked him to sleep, or sang to him, as you do. You may think that this made a rod for my own back, but it didn't. So my son and youngest daughter were treat the same ragarding sleeping.........they fell asleep on me or in their moses basket etc, i carried them upstairs to bed....no probs, and they have been the ones to go to bed okay too. But, remember every child has different ways of dealing with things, and so do we as parents. Good luck with anything you may attemp, and i hope you find the right one to get your child a good nights sleep........right, end of babble........lol

Destiny x

We did this at 7 months because none of us were getting much sleep - it worked from the first night and we've never looked back. Like everyone above has said - baby is happy because he gets more sleep, parents get an evening to themselves and precious sleep!

I remember having to do this with my eldest, it is heart wrenching, but soon you will all feel the benefit. I did not make the same mistakes with my younger son & so never had to go through the same process. Good luck. xx