I'm doing the right thing here, right?

[sugarbear]

DS (2) has been putting himself to sleep at night consistently for a little over a year. Lately though, he's been wanting me to lay down with him at nap time and I have willingly complied. It works so well and it's only a couple days a week.

But now he wants me to lay down with him at night nd I can't do it. It takes him much longer to fall asleep and I have too much to get done before going to bed myself. I tucked him in, said my "love you"s, and left, all while he was begging me to lay down with him. I went in a few minutes later to reassure him that I love him, tucked him in again, and left. He cried for about ten minutes.

Gad, typing this out makes it seem really silly. But it's been so long since we had to cry it out, I just want to be reassured at he won't hate me in the morning.

[thatgirl2478]

I'm sure he won't. I know my brother was always trying to extend his bed time (well, sleeping time) by asking for 'just one more ___' (glass of water, story, question, etc).

[vccake]

DS went through this phase. We sat in a chair next to him and stayed silent. After about two weeks it got a lot better. I know that for my kid lying down next to him wd have been difficult to stop. Sitting in a chair next to him gave him comfort.

[Deleted]

You're doing the right thing. He won't hate you.

[slug*bug]

You're doing the right thing. Hugs. He's not going to hate you, promise!

[dcrunnergirl]

You're doing fine. We just went through a few months of this with DS (18-22 months). After going to sleep without a peep for the first 18 months of his life, he wanted us to stay with him when he fell asleep. We couldn't, so every night for 4 months, he'd cry for no more than 10 minutes (usually closer to 5 minutes) and then just go right to sleep. It's just a phase. Now at almost 2, he's back to going right to sleep (knock on wood).

[jena]

It's whatever feels right to you. Yes, he'll be fine if you keep doing what you're doing. But if it bothers you, can you change up the routine so you can lay down for a bit? Maybe a little more snuggling before reading books while laying down? Or lay down for a pre-set amount of time - I tell him I'll lay down for 2 songs and then I need to go to bed.

[vanillacourage]

DS1 also wants us to lay with him so we compromised that we would set the timer on our phones for 3 minutes and when it goes off, we get up. He actually sets the timer himself (iPhone expert, lol) and it's a hard "deadline" rather than just "one more minute mom!"

Sometimes I wish bedtime went faster, but it gives us good snuggle time and a chance to talk quietly. For example, he's been having some issues hitting at school, last night we talked about all the things our hands will be for tomorrow instead of using them to hit.