So my 17 month old has always had the same bedtime routine and has always gone down at night with no issues (with the exception of sickness or occasional developmental leaps). He doesnt like being rocked sleep and loves his crib.

About a week ago he started taking much longer to fall asleep. He would roll around in his crib, play with his hands or his blanket, and then eventually go to sleep on his own, about an hour after we put him down.

This week we traveled to see my ils, and bedtime was a screamfest. 2+ hours every night, until i let him curl up with me and watch a 15 minute baby einstein video...then he was ready for bed and went down without a peep.

I thought this was a travel related regression, but it has continued the two nights since coming home.

He is going through a big language explosion right now, and i looked on the wonder weeks chart and he is smack dab in the middle of a stormy period. So that all makes sense. But he seems well rested during the day, even though he is getting about 2 hours less of sleep than he was a week ago. He is mostly sleeping through the night, but wakes up 2-4 times crying (he goes back to sleep on his own.) He is still waking up at the same time in the am, even though he is going to sleep much later.

He still goes down easy for both of his naps, but I'm wondering if i should switch him to one nap now to possibly help with getting bedtime back on track, or if this is just a phase that has to play out and that messing with his naps will make it worse because he will become overtired.

Any ideas or experiences? Thanks!!