2.5 Year Old Falling Asleep on His Own

I have heard of people trying to slowly move to the door - like one night they sit in the chair next to the bed - the next night they move the chair farther away from the bed - and so on and so forth until you're outside the bedroom. I know it would take a while (a couple weeks) but if you have been doing this for 2.5 years you can't expect things to change overnight. I have also heard of 'I'll check on you in 5 minutes - Mommy has to _____ and then come back in 5 minutes and slowly progress to make it longer in between checking on them. I would just suggest you do stuff gradually because he is in this routine and will not understand why you are not laying with him anymore if you just decide that tonight's it - I'm done - I'm not laying with you anymore. Good luck!!!

I do the same thing-since we got our son a big boy bed at 3 I have been falling asleep with him. Can he fall asleep on his own if you aren't home? That's the difference for our son-he can totally fall asleep without fuss if I'm not home, but when I am he wants me there. Since that is the case I don't worry about it much since I am fairly sure he won't still want me laying with him as he gets older.

I have to admit I love that time with him and don't really want to give it up-so I'm probably not much help-but I will say that there is a big difference for them emotionally after they turn 3. So if you want to wean him out of it-waiting until after he is 3 might be helpful. Same goes for potty training.

Otherwise, you proably are going to have to resolve to having some drama for awhile while you implement leaving while he's awake, etc, (Leslie's suggestions) . You have to stay consistent though or that won't work.

We have been working on this with our daughter. We use the "I'll be back in X minutes" trick that Teresa mentioned. The thing is...you have to go back before they get out of bed. :) It's been working well, but it took a while to get established. Last night, we had the biggest shocker of all. "I'm sleepy. I'm going to my bed." We expected her to come out in a minute and she actually went to sleep, to her bed , on her own accord and did not get up!!! I don't expect that every night, but it was really nice last night. GL!

I used to sit with my oldest until he fell asleep. I didnt' lay in his bed but I probably would have but it was a toddler bed. Eventually I would tell him I was going to sit in my room (after a story and some songs to calm him) and he would be asleep in no time.

My son is now a little over 3 and goes through phases of going to bed easily and going to bed with ALOT of drama. We did the old pick him up and put him back in bed without saying anything for HOURS while he yelled and pleaded. We put him down around 8:00 and he would still be up at 9:45 doing this game.

Finally, my husband put a lock on his door. I rock him, give him water, tuck him into bed, rub his back, play music, and then leave. If he comes out twice, i shut the door and lock it. The first night he cried and yelled for an hour, and I felt sick to my stomach. The second night, 5 minutes, and after that, no problems.

It was TOTALLY worth the crying, for both of us. He now gets the experience of laying in bed alone to calm down and go to sleep, and I get an hour or two to relax at the end of the day.

our daughter is the same age and we i started cutting back our time in bed with her once in a while now she asks to go to bed....sometimes when she feels like ive been there for too long she kicks me out of her room now and goes to sleep on her own

we tried the leave for 5 mins and come back method around 2 1/2. it worked well as a slow transition. it will be easier on him and can be very effective if you just slowly make little changes- it took about a month for us. i used some tips from Elizabeth Pantley altho i didnt do the whole 'program'.

i ended up going back to laying with him right around when he turned 3- we took a long crazy vacation and i laid down with him everynight b/c we were in new places etc. when we got home i decided to do it again. so i would ask if you want him to sleep on his own b/c you feel you should, or b/c you want or need more time to yourself in the evening or his sleep/ability to sleep is a concern? i did it b/c i felt that i "should" and then afterward i decided that wasnt a good reason. there is so much advice and opinions and pressure out there it can make you feel you need to do what everyone else is doing. in my case, i also dont get to spend as much time as i would like with my son, if i were a SAHM, i would probably feel differently and want to have some time to myself for the evening..

i totally agree with Cate below- i personally enjoy the time. i work full time and my son is really active, so i am enjoying having that quiet time while it lasts. my son has no trouble going to bed with a sitter (who doesnt stay with him) and his dad puts him to bed some nights. he also naps at daycare w/out assistance so i know he is already capable of falling asleep alone and im not worried ill still be laying by him when he is older... but i have to admit i just might miss it.