taking ages to settle at night

[faery]

okay, i am very anti controlled crying. so someone has got to give me a solution......

ds is 2 and still has boob, but no longer fed to sleep (at night anyway). he is taking up to 2 hours to settle in bed at night. it didn't used to take this long. I have tried a system of bath, feed on the couch, then down to bed. we read three books, then the lights are out (nightlight on) and we talk for a bit, then i shhhhhhh and then i am silent.
when i do bedtime, it usually takes and hour (not counting bath/feed) but with dp it can be 2 hours.

i know he can put himself to sleep and do it quickly. but he is just resisting and driving us mental. we have NO time together and i am getting really resentful of him being in our room (we co-sleep but he has his own mattress)

i'm at the point where i just want to do the books, kiss goodnight and leave the bloody room, and let him work it out. :hair:

[jarrahsmumma]

is he tired?

i found this with my DS (when he was 2), he would be up and down all eveing when he was having an afternoon sleep...it passed in time

or, you could try laying with him, he may want you close to him at bedtime?

it wont be like this forever, it will pass:hugs:

[the_queen]

Is he still having a day sleep? You could either wait for him to basically fall asleep before putting him to bed at night, or cut out the day sleep so he's tired earlier in the evening.

My boy is nearly 2, I find that when I put him to bed (he's fed to sleep) sometimes he will wake a little bit later, and come out to find me, and have a quick suck but then go lay on the floor and go back to sleep. He just needs to be near me I think.

[twotrunks]

We have found a similar thing with DD who is 2... she has been a great sleeper for the last 6 months but all fo a sudden hates going to bed and cries every night. We are thinking about moving her inot a bed from her cot, as we figure she is not in a good routine now so we may as well go for the bed and start a new routine then. I think the problem started when she had to share a room with her older sister for a few weeks. Some times we let her cry it out but most of the time my husband nurses her and sings to her till she is calm enough to leave.
With himn your room I guess it will be tough, at what age does he get his own room? It may be that he will need you to lay with him to get him to sleep until he is a bit older, as it seems to be a bit of a stage at this age. As another person said, it will not last forever (although apparently teenagers take ages to settle too!!)
Good luck!