DS was sick for a week with a cold. During that time, he wouldn't go down for his nap unless I rubbed him back and stayed with him til he fell asleep.
He is now better, but has developed this horrible habit of not going to sleep unless I stay with him until he falls asleep. He was always good about putting him down, leaving and him going right to sleep.
Any suggestions?
Re: Help - DS suddenly won't nap
I guess I would give CIO a try.
Also, I find DD goes down more easily when I narrate the bedtime routine to her "now we're brushing our teeth, then we're going night-night" type of thing.
Bedtime isn't the problem - for some reason it's only naptime!
I think that could still work with nap time. Like start narrating 5 minutes before you actually put him down. "We're going to change your diaper/read a book/play patty cake then it's nap time. Mommy is going to lay you down in your bed and you're going to have a nice nap, then when you wake up, Mommy will come and get you and we'll have a snack" (or whatever, you get the idea.)
I actually do that. He is a very good communicator so I always explain everything to him. He is just being extremely stubborn about this!
My suggestion was the same as Mama Ha's. When I tell DD it's naptime and start talking through her routine, she is usually pretty agreeable.
Have you let him cry at all when you put him down? I find that occasionally, DD will cry while I'm still in the room...but within 30 seconds of stepping out and shutting the door, she settles right down.
I thought I would update everyone...
So I did a little reading in Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child last night, and while there was nothing in there that specifically spoke to my situation, I did get an idea: maybe he is overtired.
So I put him down at 11am today (lunch at 10:30am) instead of noon (lunch at 11:30am). Low and behold, he went right down (ok, a little bit of whining... lasting no more than 5 minutes) and slept for 2 hours! I will try again tomorrow to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but my gut is saying he was getting too tired by the noon nap time and therefore needed/wanted me to soothe him to sleep and it appears that was the case.
The book did say (this was more in reference to infants but I think it applies to all kids until they are old enough to say how they are feeling) to watch cues and not be afraid to put them to bed, whether it be naptime or actual bedtime, early - even if it seems too early to you. That really helped me figure this out.
Thanks to everyone who responded!