My 20 Month Old Just Started Having Trouble Going to Sleep for Naps/night.

my son goes to sleep from 8pm till 7 am. at this age i think they still need about 10 hours of night sleep. he naps for about 1-3 hours on the weekends...depending on his activity. Every once in a while he will cry when we lay him down. He knows we arent going to come in there. He usually stops before ten min and is asleep. If he cries for 30 mins we go in there and check on him ( clean diaper ). If he is fine we lay him back down and leave the room. If we tell him we love him and good night at this point it only angers him. My son never did like a paci, go ahead with the sippy.

He is at the age of separation anxiety so I think you are right about him worrying that you won't be there. So, go back to regular bedtime, have the usual routine. (Hope you brush his teeth after that milk so the lactose doesn't stay on them an cause problems.) Finish up with a conversation about what you will be doing while he sleeps and when he gets up. "Mama is going to clean up the kitchen and go to sleep in my bed and then we will have breakfast in the kitchen when the sun gets up. I am really tired. Are you really tired too?"
Set him up to know what to expect. Talking or webcam with the grandparents will help him to know that they haven't disappeared, jut gone home.

Hope this helps.
K.

My eyelids are propped open with toothpicks this morning because I am going through the same thing with my daughter : ) I am a mommy of 4 (she is my 4th) and we are going through the same thing. It is hard to let them cry it out because there are others in the house needing their sleep too, but as my pediatrician said when I had my first, "if you know they are dry, fed, and dressed appropriately let them cry. " She said no child has ever died from crying it out- I laughed when she said it and have followed her advice with each of the others. My children are great sleepers and I know that this is just a phase (it is just a hard one). I will be thinking/praying for you and hope the phase ends soon! In the meantime - breathe deep and know that you are teaching your precious one a most important lesson of self - soothing.

When my kids were about that age I had a radio that I had on with music, low and it made the sounds of someone being there. Your child may have heard the voices of people talking and now it is quite. Will not hurt to give it a try, it might work. Mine got to the point that I would turn on the radio and zonk gone.