[Waiting4No.2]

Hi there, what is everyone trying with their willful little toddlers at the moment?
My little man throws his duck out of cot, asks for water, wants this wants that...
Sometimes I feel like just leaving the room to lay down the law to let him know its time for bed. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I feel like I am messing with his routine by being so inconsistent.

Sometimes he cries like mad, other times he accepts its bedtime and goes to sleep.

What is everyone else doing?

[ABabyPlease]

Into sleeping bag
Nursery rhymes from a book with small cup of milk in dimly lit room
Standing cuddle and song
Into cot and another song

This usually works. Takes about 20 mins with Dad.
Sometimes I need to go after for another song.

[sleepy11]

Yeah my little boy is the same.

We find that sometimes it doesn't matter what we do, even if we're in the room he'll cry because we've placed him in the cot. I try sleeping next to his cot, I try reasoning with him (I know crazy but sometimes works). If he fusses and won't calm down then I do leave the room. DH does too. But we try the softly softly approach before letting him cry it out.

In terms of routine yes we can be very inconsistent too, but as long as you keep the pre-bed routine (ours is: bath, teeth, book, cuddle, bed) the same then I reckon it should be fine.

If you are looking at other settling techniques I guess going in and out is a form of controlled crying.. Sometimes we need to just let go, as painful as it might be and use crying it out. Useful take on crying it out if you are considering it.

[beabea]

Moving DS to a big bed fixed this. Not that it will necessarily work but something to consider. It allowed us to sit or lie down beside him whilst he drifted off.

DS was not the type for CIO techniques - Ask Moxie has a thing on tension increasers vs tension releasers. DS was a tension increaser - crying was a short path to insanity. DD seems to be a tension releaser - if I try to shush or soothe her she can go on and on. Two minutes of hard crying (I don't have to leave the room, just stop trying to soothe her although I have left in frustration more than once) and she's a sunnier girl and ready to settle down.

[Waiting4No.2]

Thanks for replies.

I love singing to him but unfortunately he recognizes the song, cuddle and dim room cues for bed and fights it. Tries to wriggle free all the time

We have definitely considered getting a toddler bed. I have hesitated because I thought he'd run away all the time. He is so willful.

Ask Moxie sounds interesting I'll go have a read. From what you've said DS definitely sounds like a tension releaser. A bit of crying helps to settle more often than not, sadly.