He'll only sleep if stand next to the crib? What do I do? (long)

This is my 3rd post I think about DS' sleep problem.

I think that I caused the problem that we are now having. DS just turned 2. He started giving us trouble at bedtime and with waking at night. What I found that worked was that if I stood by his crib until he fell asleep, he'd go to sleep no problem and STTN.

But last week he started waking at night again. He is now waking about every 45 min-1hour. If I go in, cover him, and stand by the crib, he's alseep in less than 5 minutes. But he wakes up again in less than an hour.

This has now carried over into naptime which have never been a problem. There was no soothing before naptime. I'd put him down, tell him it was nap time, and out the door. Now he cries.

The last 2 days in my desperate attempt to get him to nap I've sat in the glider with him. He falls asleep sitting next to me (not on me). I transfer and today he slept 1hr 40min (less than usual 2 +hrs). When he woke, I went in there and stood by the crib and he fell asleep again. Woke up after 10 minutes though.

He only sleeps if I am there and I think he wakes up and checks to see if I'm there, if I'm not, he cries.

How do I fix this now? I told DH we should put a picture of us in the crib. I know it sounds crazy but I don't know what to do.

Re: He'll only sleep if stand next to the crib? What do I do? (long)

I'm sure you don't want to do this but you need to stop staying in there. in the long run it's not fair to you or your DS b/c you are helping him to be dependent on you to sleep...he needs to learn how to do it on his own. it might take a BAD night or 2 of crying but if you stay strong and don't go in he'll learn...
i know not everyone is comfortable doing that -but it's my only advice since i had to do CIO with both my kids. it worked and its better to do it when they are not too old to get up out of bed or too tiny that they are only infants. your DS is old enough i think to CIO. as long as he's not sick, hungry, dirty diaper or teething i think it's ok to teach them to rely on themselves. good luck-it's not easy but NOTHING is better than a good night's sleep ....for everyone

Re: He'll only sleep if stand next to the crib? What do I do? (long)

Cardboard cutout !

Re: He'll only sleep if stand next to the crib? What do I do? (long)

I went rhough the same thing with my DD a few weeks ago. She was getting her eye teeth in and her sleep went to crap. In an effort to stop picking her up when she woke, I started to just lay next to her crib and she would go back to sleep. After a few weeks of that, it was getting ridiculous so I started to just lessen the time I stayed there. Eventually, I would walk out and she would cry but not cry for long. She was back to normal within a day or two of that. I really feel that the whole issue was her teeth. Once they broke through, everything became much easier.

Re: He'll only sleep if stand next to the crib? What do I do? (long)

what about telling him the story of llama red pajama?
dd is a little younger but would freak out when she didnt see me. she has no idea where the heck i am when im not with her. i thought the book helped out a little with us. youtube link of story

i dont believe in straight cio. i do the one posted in the link located on the top of the board.
we also use
i talk to her about what i see-i guess she looks at it when im gone. the music helps a lot too.

do you have that stuff already?

Re: He'll only sleep if stand next to the crib? What do I do? (long)

Thanks for the suggestions. I was so happy to see replies to this post, I'm desperate!

I think teething is playing a role, 2 yr molars. It's so hard to tell though bc he doesn't let me look back there. I though I saw a tiny bit of the right molar coming through but now today I'm not sure. DH said that last week hims gums were swollen and white. Who knows!

I feel so bad bc he's usually a good sleeper and when he's not, I've always found an explanation. It's not just a random thing. (last time I discovered it was that his onsies were too small and he was uncomfortable, took me weeks until i figured it out by accident )

May try walking out of the room a little earlier every day as suggested and explaining where I go when I am not there.

During the onesie incident we tried CIO and it did not work. After 6 days the crying time did not go down.