help me break this bad habit!

[petesgirl]

For the past couple months one of us has been laying with DS until he falls asleep but it's (past) time for him to start falling asleep alone. I realize this habit is totally our fault and im looking for your best tips on how to get him to start falling asleep alone. Of course, our biggest problem so far is getting him to stay in bed/in the room.

[nfowife]

Maybe start setting a timer for how long you will lay with him and then tell him you will come back and check on him after x minutes (start with shorter times and stretch it out).
There's also the sleep lady shuffle method where you start sitting next to the bed with your hand on them, then gradually (over like a week or 2) move your chair closer and closer to the door until you are outside the door. That might be better for his age....

[musicalgrl]

Following this thread. We are in the SAME boat with DS who is 2 months younger than yours. I would love to not have to sit there every night.

[123LuckyMom]

We used-- and still use-- a timer. When DS was younger, I used a kitchen timer app on my phone. DS would choose the color and the ring tone and got to press the button to start it. When the timer went off, I left.

I'm not sure how old your son is. When we first put DS in his big boy bed, we had three rules. He could stay up as late as he wanted, but he had to be in bed with lights out and quiet. As long as he followed the rules, I would come back and check on him every 10 minutes (every 5 in the beginning.) if he wasn't quiet, though, or if I could hear that he got out of bed or see that his light was on, I would not come back for checks until he was following the rules.

We did put a safety device in his door knob so that he could not open the door and wander the house. As soon as he settled in we were able to remove it.

[lhafer]

Start with laying in the bed until he's almost asleep, then leave before he's fully asleep. Then the next night just sit on the bed, don't lay down with him. Then the next night stand or sit on the floor - don't be on the bed. Then the next night be a little closer to the door. Keep doing this every night until you are close to the door andl you are able to say good night, and leave the room. It takes some time, and can be trying. But it's better to break this habit now instead of him going a long time being used to this. Super Nanny does it this way, and it seems to really work.

[trcy]

I fell in this trap with DD. After trying just about everything, I had to go cold turkey. It was a rough few nights, but we got through it.