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We had a lot of trouble getting our son to sleep on his own after we moved. We basically had to just give up and let him cry because we were spending literally hours in his room every night. He cried for like an hour the first night and he still cries when we leave the room but only until the door is closed.

I’ve found it to be like anything else, you have to be consistent and not give in if the result is important to you.

I don't have a similar experience, so feel free to ignore my comment, but is there a reason why you wouldn't go back to a crib? I feel like that would be an easy way to keep him contained if you're going to try any sort of cry-it-out method (which I would!). My daughter will be 2 next week and I have no plans to move her to a bed anytime soon - maybe 6-12+ months from now? My daughter is totally the type that would chase us to the door screaming for us not to leave if she knew she could get out of bed, but in a crib she fusses for 5-10 seconds then lays down and goes to sleep.

@Jennibenni: Agree with everything you said.

LO2 used to fall asleep so easily on us up to a certain point. We would just let him fall asleep in 5 minutes and put him in his crib asleep.

After a period of time, he started taking longer and longer to fall asleep. Then he wouldn't at all. We got tired of rocking him for hours that one day, I just had him give me a hug, gave him a kiss and put him in his crib. He cried, but I firmly told him it was time for na-night, and walked out. He would cry for a little while, but it got shorter and shorter. Now he tries to stall us with questions as we leave But we can leave and firmly tell him that it's time to go to sleep.

Be consistent, and be tolerant of cries. You'll get there!

I agree with consistency and a containment plan. So we do our (short) routine cuz ain’t nobody got time for that and then leave. If my kids want to talk to themselves and roll around that’s cool. So if you can’t do a crib I would turn the room into a “crib” by removing anything dangerous and putting on a handle cover or a door monkey and then let them be. I will say to mine over the monitor C, go to sleep! And that’s it.

@gotkimchi: same.

DD isn’t in a crib, and she can’t escape her room because she can’t be trusted. I go through her routine, give her a kiss, and then leave. If she cries I tune it out. She usually doesn’t three days. She will sing to herself some nights or play with her stuffed animals a bit before falling asleep

So we got DD a big girl bed and she's very proud of it, and surprisingly stays there at bedtime. She goes crazy with bedtime though, and keeps asking for one more story, so eventually I have to threaten to walk out if she doesn't lie down quietly. But that's just bedtime... she doesn't stay in her bed at night. Gets out of bed, opens our bedroom door with a bang that wakes everyone, and wants to pee/drink/cuddle/get another toy. I'm dreaming of moving out of the house for a week and just sleeping in my office or on a park bench, but I can't do that to DH.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: We have never had full on chaos over sleep - but like all parents we have had our ups and downs. Two points I will add that may offer help:

1) DD2 has had worse sleep than her sister - we have also (like others) found consistency to be the key. She is 2 yrs 2 mos, the most recent issue was her crying every 1.5-2 hours at night...for "mamamamamamamama". It became an issue quickly because she was waking up DD1 who was distraught that she thought something was wrong with her precious baby sister. Our biggest issue was the difference in how DH and I approached the matter. He just wanted the sound to stop - so he'd appease her. I was more rigid. We had a big of a come to jesus between us and agreed no getting her out of the bed, and after 2 visits to her room - we would not come back. Visit 1 was always check for poop, check for fever, is everything "ok". Visit 2 was "mommy and daddy need sleep just like you, its night night time - you need to go night night." After a few nights of this structure she stopped. I am sure its not the end of it - but for now we're in a good sleep place.

2) The door monkey. One of these fine ladies on the Bee told me about it and it was a life saver for DD1. It keeps the door from closing or opening. Its about $12 on Amazon. It just keeps the door at a nice crack. DD1 has to pass some dangerous stairs on her way to the bathroom - so we first used it out of stair safety (not room restraint). DD had mad respect for it. Check it out - maybe it'll help keep him in the room. (For those concerned - its definitely not a "locked" door situation. DD1 can - and sadly has - ripped the door open in a full on tantrum....but she did it once and never did it again)

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: we use a noise machine but we always have and I have a night light in my 4yo old room but not in my 2yo. I only added a nightlight when my older asked for it so she was probably a little older

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I think our LO's are very close in age. We recently transitioned from bed sharing to LO in his crib all night. There was crying and it was hard but I was determined to end the misery of no sleep. If you're ready to make a change I would share that information with LO. "Tonight we are starting a new bedtime routine, we're going to do x, y, z and then you're going to sleep in your own bed all night! In the morning we're going to eat breakfast/play on my phone/watch TV!" Maybe he'll understand some of what you're saying, maybe he won't but half of parenting is sales, so sell it.

Can I suggest a bedtime routine?

7:00 transition to quiet play (no screens), in the family room/playroom. Bedrooms should be for sleeping, not playing, esp so close to bedtime.

7:30 change into pj's, give LO warm milk or plain water while you read a few stories.

7:45-8:00 put LO into bed, give kisses and goodnights and go away and close the door.

I let LO cry it out. Only lasted two nights. I went in every ten minutes, to lay him back down. Cried for an hour the first night, 40 minutes the second and then nothing the third.

You can do it mama!

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: So, LO won't bed share with us, she thinks our room is for play, but I'll tell you what we've been doing to get through the 2 year sleep regression and maybe it'll help. She's been waking up in the middle of the night, wide awake, ready to play, not needing anything. Since she's been sick so much this year, my normal reaction is to go in and check on her (note - she's still in a crib, we haven't transitioned yet - she tried to get out of the pnp once and got scared, so she hasn't tried to climb out of her crib yet).

Well, one night I tried to get her to go back to bed for 2 hours and every time I tried to put her back in her crib she'd start screaming. So I tried laying on the floor with her, same reaction, tried the couch, same thing...eventually I gave up and was just going to let her CIO again when DH went in and just repeated to her over and over "lay down and go to sleep" for a good 20-30 minutes. She finally went to sleep. I had to do that again the day of her birthday party, she didn't want to go to sleep, so I went in and used his method, and it worked.

So, *knock on wood* hopefully we're passed it, but for now she's back to going to bed fine and sleeping through the night. Good luck!! sorry for the novel!!

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Big progress indeed! While its hard to hear your child cry during sleep training, it becomes a distant memory when you get to sleep through the night, in your own bed, sans kid.

Keep up the good work.