2 1/2 Year Old Falling Asleep on Own

You might want to try a smaller bed or a full size stuffed animal. Sometimes a special night light of his own would work.

my experience is that the only thing that really works well and reliably is cry it out. It is hard at his age as he is now mobile and so can get out of bed. I would put a safety latch on the door to his room and make his bed as inviting and snuggly as possible and then snuggle with him for no more than 5 mins and then tell him he must go to sleep - leave. Expect a ruckus for the first 2 days and then peace will ensue. Good Luck.

WE were in similar situaton. Initially she slpe with us and after she slept I left the room. And vola she used to go to sleep thru the night. But then the night time waking up started. She will come to our room 2-3 times a night. I was becoming restless and not getting sleep.

Stickers had worked with her for potty training and spitting after brush. But not in this case. Eventually we got her a disney princess blanket, She really liked it. I told her all the princesses will sleep with her. BUt if she comes to us they will go away. The very first day she came over I took the blanket and gave the old one other day. With reminder sleep in your bed and they will come back. She is in her bed for last three months, sleeps on her own...I am loving it..!!

See what is his fancy sometime reward and soetime lack of one helps@@

This sounds silly, but if you can, try to catch a few episodes of the Supernanny. She is often dealing with similar sleep-time issues. I have seen her do two of the suggestions below by MSM and Tabitha.
With my son, I used to lie down on the floor in his room until he fell asleep and then if he woke up I had a pillow and blanket in there...I would go in and do the same in the middle of the night. When he turned two, his dad begged me to stop doing this because I wasn't getting good sleep EVER. So I did what another mom suggested, which was to make sure we had an exact and consistant bedtime routine. Then I would put him in his crib and tell him I would be right back, and that I was going to fill his dragon (his humidifier) and clean his bathtub (we have bath crayons, so I like to make sure they are all cleaned up). I think because I said I would be right back, he would just say "ok". Often by the time I got back from doing these two things, he would be asleep. If not, he would say "can you go 'night 'nights right here?" but I would say "no, mommy has to go downstairs but I will leave the door open, ok?"
He is now 2 1/2 and rather than telling him I will be right back, I just fill his humidifier and then tell him goodnight and leave his door open...he trusts that I am there, because I always have been, and so he falls right to sleep.
This has also translated into the middle of the night: at 2 he would wake up and ask me to sleep next to his bed. I would get up and go in there, tell him he was ok and to lie back down. I would say "Do you have Tigger" (stuffed friend he likes to sleep with) and he would be comforted by finding him. Then when he asked me to stay in his room, I would explain that I have to go 'night 'nights in Mommy and Daddy's room but that I would leave the door open. Then I would walk out. If he cried when I walked out, I would wait a minute and then go back in and do the same routine--but I would NOT lie down on the floor again. Eventually I would only have to go in once, tell him I was going back to bed, and then he would be fine. Now, at 2 1/2, he sleeps through the night without waking up at all....it is a WONDERFUL thing :)
Good luck to you!! Seriously, as crazy as it sounds to be getting parenting advice from a TV, I find the Supernanny to be very useful in some sticky situations and it does help me remember to have fun with my little guy (and appreciate his daddy more :)

Your child is going to develop a lot before your baby is born that will make independence more likely.

I don't have solutions, but want to say that we still lie down with our 3+ year old. My husband and I take turns--it was mostly him after the baby was born. For me, I call it nighttime parenting, which may require sacrifice like daytime parenting does.

It's easiest for my son to fall asleep when he doesn't nap a lot during the day.

My attitude is that my son will be going to bed alone very soon (at least when he moves out--right?). This intense stage of parenting will be over soon, they become adults quickly and I'll be sitting at home all alone (going to bed without kids in it) and hoping they call once in awhile.

You can do the same route as you did when he was a baby or do what you are doing now (well sort of), but don't lie in the bed. Say the 'I Love You/Goodnite' stuff first. Then start out by sitting next to the bed so he knows that you are near. When he wants to talk, don't. If he keeps getting out of bed, put him back and don't say anything. Then little by little, graviate toward the door. I always brought a self-improvement or business mag with me so that I was just not sitting there and felt like I was not making use of the time. After about a week with working with one of my sons, he was fine. I did this when he was about your son's age. Every so often after we say prayers and read scriptures, he still asks for me to snuggle with him (he's 7). I tell him for a couple of minutes sometimes or after I tuck him in and if he asks, I tell him a couple of things (that are true), "I'll come back and check on you" (and then it's about an hour later. I will also use, 'I have to clean up the kitchen first then I will come back'. Usually when I come back afer a while, he is asleep. If he is asleep when I come (always the case) I then kiss him again so then that way when he wakes in the morning and says that I didn't come back, I can honestly say that I did and he was already asleep. I don't want to say that I did when I really didn't. Anyhow, hope this makes sense. Have fun =)

Hi, we had the exact same issue with my daughter, who is now four. We had our second when she was three, just like you. She would only fall asleep if one of us was lying next to her, and she would often call us at night (not come over) and one of us would have to come in and wait for her to fall asleep again. The basic problem is the same - she can't fall asleep on her own, and lots of us wake up at night, so because of the dependency she would have to have us help her in the middle of the night. So solving the falling asleep in the evening problem will go a long way toward solving the waking up at night problem.

We never let our kids cry it out. What we did was VERY gradually leave earlier and earlier. We would lie there with her, tell her a story. Then after a couple of minutes of silence, I would kiss her and say good night and other loving words, and then say, "I need to clean up the kitchen" or "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep in my bed" or something else that was basically the truth. And she would say, "stay with me, sleep with me" and I'd say, "OK, just a little more." And then I'd stay another minute or two and do the same, but this time I'd leave. I'd explain that she sleeps in her bed and I sleep in mom and dad's bed, and that we're ALWAYS together in our hearts and I'm nearby. At first I would sometimes say I'd be back in a few minutes to give her another kiss (which I would). She really resisted but I was persistent - loving but firm. If I'd give in about staying a couple of more minutes, I'd explain that now it's her turn to be a big girl and fall asleep on her own. It was very gradual but it worked. The key is not to just give in once you've started the process (sometimes it's tempting when you're pregnant to just fall asleep with her).

Now that I have two of them, I tell her to wait in bed while I put the baby down (they're in the same room) and then by the time I'm done with him she's pretty sleepy, which makes it easier.

Good luck! And think of the positive - soon she'll be wanting privacy!

Oh and on the night-time wakings, those gradually went away on their own. Age 3-4 they get nightmares and terrors, and eventually she would only wake up if she had one of those.

R.

Don't know if you do or not, but have you tried a bedtime routine to get him wound down before he lays down. My husband likes to take charge of the evening bedtime routine since he doesn't get to see the kids all day. After dinner and the girls have put their dishes on the counter, they go upstairs and get their jammies on and pick out a book apiece. He goes up and does a Bible devotional with them and then he reads one book for the four year old and helps the six year old with her book. The girls each say a prayer of their own and then they pray with papi together. By the time they get all that done which takes about 1/2 an hour...they are both too tired to complain and go right to sleep. The four year old often falls asleep before they are done.

Some people recommend a soothing bath too, but I've found that wakes my kids up so we do baths early on.

My daughter is the same age, same situation, if you figure it out let me know. We tried everything!!!

It sounds like he never learned to fall asleep on his own. My husband and I struggled with this for a long time as well. It takes dilligence and patience. Now that he's a little older I would continue the talks about sleeping by himself and continue his bedtime routine but make sure that you're putting him to bed when you know he's tired and/or a certaintime every night. I would suggest maybe starting with dad or you laying in bed to read a book to him (it's amazing how well you can read with only a nightlight on!). After the book's finished give him a kiss and hug and say goodnight. We always let our little one know we'll be back to check on her in a couple of minutes. Then, the key to our salvation was to get a door knob saftey lock and put it on the inside knob in her room. That way she can't turn it but we can. When she realized it was futile to try to get out, she spent less time trying to play with mom and dad and more time sleeping. Sure we still have occasional nights where she wakes up and wants to be with mom and dad, but nothing that would interfere with our lives. The other bonus is that many times she'll wake up on her own and play with her toys for an hour and a half or so in the morning before she gently knocks on the door for us to let her out. It'll be hard at first, but think of it as teaching him life skills instead of feeling guilty. Just be consistent, keep putting him back in bed, sometimes you may even have to be stern, just think about whatever he's done in the past that won you over for letting him come to your bed or to let him stay up...these are the things he will try again. Be prepared and don't give in. Then, when number 2 comes, just remember put her/him down when you know she/he's tired and let them learn to fall asleep on their own. That's my plan anyway! : ) Good Luck!!

I had the same issue with my daughter. Talking to him is a great start! I had started with tucking her in and telling her I would sit in the rocking chair (in the corner of her room) and wait until she fell asleep like a big girl. She could still see me, and anytime she tried to talk to me, I told her it was bedtime and she had to be quiet and close her eyes. It took up to a week, but it was an easy transition. Hope this helps!!

I went through this same problem with my daughter when she was arond 2 years old. This is exactly what I did and after about a month, I was able to put my daughter in her bed and walk right out of the room she is now 5 and has no problems going to sleep or staying bed throughout the whole night.
The first thing that you need to do is say out of his bed. Do not go back into bed no matter what time of night it is. Next, start a regular bed time routine. I always read my daughter two books before bed while holding her in a rocking chair near her bed. After the books were done, I would put her in bed, turn on her CD player with soft music, then I would sit in the chair until she feel asleep. As she got used to me sitting in the chair near her bed, I started to move the chair further away from the bed and closer to the door. Eventually, she got to the point that I didn't even have to sit in back in the chair I could just put her in bed after the books, turn on the CD and walk right out. Now, this did not happen over night. It took a lot of patience and there were several nights I would sit in her room for a very long time. She would walk up sometimes as I was walking out of the room but the addition of music helped so she wouldn't hear me leave and wake up again. If she woke up in the middle of the night, I would do the same thing. I never layed in bed with her.
This method really worked for me and my daughter and I am sure it will work for you as long as you say out of your son's bed.