I'm having trouble getting ,my 1yr old to settle ?

Question

He sleeps all night, but it's the actual gong down that's the prob.

We've tried holding him, but now hes too heavy, story, then leaving the room, and coming back. Leaving him to cry, which we both hate! and now what works is pretending, to sleep on the bed, whilst his in his cot, he gets bord and falls asleep. Help appreciated thanks.

Answer 1

My kids always liked a warm bath before bedtime. This helped them to relax. Have you tried baby massage. It works great for relaxing. This may also help.

http://www.squidoo.com/babydreams

Answer 2

Try shortening his naps so that he'll be tired earlier. This way he might stay asleep after a story.

With my daughter, I tried the "let her cry" trick and she would get so worked up she would hyperventilate. At 3 she still crawls in bed with us.

With my son I tried it and he is totally okay with it. The longest he's cried was 30 minutes then after a few days it went to 15 and now its literally not even a full minute and he just lays down to sleep.

Also try cutting out sugary foods or drinks before bedtime. I tell my daughter that she gets only milk at night time (instead of juice) and now she's associated milk with time to settledown and relax for bed time.

Answer 3

Around now, your toddler's play will probably start shifting from mastering fine motor skills (he's got that thumb-and-forefinger grasp down pat) to exercising larger muscles. Some children this age have an attention span of two to five minutes for quiet activities — although your child's favorite games may not be all that quiet.

Your child probably thinks it's fun to push, throw, and knock everything down. He'll give you a toy as well as take one, and he likes games in which he can put things in containers and dump them out again. This works well with blocks in buckets or boxes and with small plastic containers, which he can nest inside one another. He'll thrill to the loud sounds of pots and pans banging together, too.