Bedtime

Hi everyone!

I’ve come here for some advice as I am stumped. So I have always had the same bedtime routine for my little girl and never really had a problem up until this past week.

It’s usually, bath, story,and I let her drink her milk while she is lay in my arms on the rocking chair in her room then I lay her in the cot when she is asleep.

Recently she will get up to the milk in the chair part and then starts to say “bed”.

so I lay her in the cot and she wants me in there too. So I have tried both ways of not going into the bed and also climbing in. She seems to think it’s a game and is climbing on me, laughing, talking and generally not going to sleep. This usually lasts for 45 mins.

Eventually she falls asleep after me singing lullabies and then I can leave.

She isn’t waking in the night and kicking off, it’s just getting her to sleep that’s the problem. Some days it takes me 2 hours and it’s exhausting.

I have tried to leave the room as she was just being silly and she cries (obviously) but I am not going to do controlled crying or let her cry herself to sleep.

Has anyone else’s child gone through a similar thing and is it a leap? She is talking so much more now and putting words together so don’t know whether it’s a development leap or what.

What is your routine that doesn’t involve crying it out? Thanks x