HELP!!! 23 Month Old Boy Fighting "Tooth & Nail" to Go to Bed

We sing our daughter to sleep.

It sounds like he's pretty desperate, doesn't know how to fall asleep, and needs help learning a new way. They say that dads are better when the baby is used to the breast. Maybe Dad can start out by doing the bed-time routine (and naps this weekend), and this can help transition your baby to you.

Start out before he is tired - winding down, closing the shades, making it darker in the house. No big antics. Maybe wear some lavender or have some in the air. Rock and cuddle him, try to stay positive and supportive no matter what. White noise is good. Maybe get an air fiter/purifier like a HEPA one (feed two birds with one hand).

I like neurofeedback. You can get a $10 mp3 from brainsync.com or hemi-sync.com (I'm not sure there's a dash in it). YOu can get a sleep one.

Good luck,
L.

well, he was being comforted to sleep with nursing (way to go, btw) so just keep it up. rock him, lay down with him, let him sleep with you ar a sibling (or a pet in his room-our dog sleeps on our son's floor sometimes if he has a hard time going to sleep). if he is crying for hours, sleep is becoming a scary stressful thing for him, so help him out. he is still a baby. also try reading the no cry sleep solution for toddlers, by elizabeth pantley.

Hey A., maybe try skipping the nap and then he should be tired enough to go to bed at night....who knows, it's just another thing to try....good luck...R.

We had a LOT of trouble with my son for almost 3 months just after he turned 2. He'd been in a big boy bed for about a month when he started it and it was AWFUL, so I completely understand the frustration. We took him back to bed a million times over with lots of crying and screaming for sometimes as long as 2-3 hours! What I think ended up making the biggest difference was a brighter night light and I let him choose something to take to bed with him every night. I don't care what it is, a toy, whatever. Sometimes he lays there playing with a toy for 5-10 minutes before going to sleep, but he's staying there and thats what counts to me!!! The night light we got is really bright, but it seems to help, and like I said the goal is to keep him in the bed and happy! Good luck, I know how hard it is! I would cringe when it came closer to bedtime, knowing that the rest of the night was going to be miserable....stick with it, it will get better!! My boy gets excited about going to bed to read now and very, very rarely gets up and goes right to sleep! And it was only a couple of months ago he was screaming and getting up every 2 minutes!

Maybe leave out the nap for a little while and see how bed time does. If that does not work try binky or a blanky. it is the securty that he is looking for more than anything else right now he had you for his food and now he feels lost.went through simaler with my daughter when she was younger.