Nancy - posted on 07/14/2010 ( 1 mom has responded )
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My 21 month old son has never slept in our bed. He was in a co-sleeper in our room until 8 months, then his crib in his room until 15 months, then all of a sudden, he refused to sleep in his room, threw these screaming fits that were different than temper tantrums, they were filled with terror. He may have had nightmares in that room and so he associates it with bad stuff, but we've gotten complacent by letting him fall asleep in his playpen in the living room while we watch TV at night and he sleeps there very soundly, with no problems all night long. I have tried with little success to carry him to his room after he falls asleep, but most times he wakes up, realizes where we are and flips out. I try to put him in his crib and he clings to me like a monkey crying hysterically. So, not wanted to traumatize him, I carry him back downstairs put him in his playpen, he rolls over and goes back to sleep. No problem. The problem, however, is I want to get up early and work out in the living room, let the dogs out to potty at 5am, or whatever and he pops up awake. He is outgrowing the playpen, for sure and I just feel he needs to be in his own room. I'm not ready to convert to a bed until he can sleep in the room. I've tried letting him CIO, that goes on for a very long time and never resolves. We have to set a time limit of an hour and he always surpasses that. I've tried to rock him in the rocking chair in his room, but he's either always on alert knowing what I'm doing or he wakes up the minute I put him back in bed and it starts all over again. I've tried more play time in his room, which he likes, but when it's time to go to bed, it's the same thing. Help!
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