What are the chances I could get my 2yo to fall asleep in her crib?

[Hokulele]

Here's the situation: DD is 2yo. At night I nurse her and rock her and nurse her and rock her and it takes a solid 1.5 hours from lights out until I can get her to fall asleep. I just want this to take up less of my evening! I've put my kids to bed every single night for FIVE YEARS and it has never taken less than 1.5 hours from lights out to eyes closed. Maybe I just need a break!

But, is there any chance I could teach her how to fall asleep on her own? Gently?

Obviously I don't want to make her lonely etc but I really think she would fall asleep better if I wasn't there. It is HOT right now here and we get all sweaty in the rocking chair and sometimes I think the fact that I am there is what is keeping her up.

Right now she starts her naps and her sleep for the night in her crib. I put her in there after she falls asleep. Then the first time she wakes I move her to our bed where she spends the rest of her nap/the night.

Occasionally, when I put her to sleep directly in the bed, I lie next to her. She will roll away from me, lie still and fall asleep. So I feel like I'm not THAT far off from being able to teach her to do this in her crib. I'd do it in the big bed but I'm just afraid to leave her alone before she's asleep because she's highly likely to crawl off the bed, or start jumping around etc.

[Maluhia]

What about the "big bed" on the ground - therefore no risk of rolling off/hurting herself and if she jumps around you know she needs your help to calm down?

[NSmomtobe]

I would look at the "No Cry Sleep Solution" because I think the book has a lot of good information and advice, but then again I am only on day 1 of the plan now, so I can't tell you if it works yet. Good luck!

[Super~Single~Mama]

I think you can, but it will take some patience. Although, it sounds like you have an abundance of patience since you've been rocking kiddos to sleep for 5 years!!

This is what I did (my ds is 18mo, we've been doing this a few nights/week for about 2-3months), I would leave a light on so that I could see, put ds in his pack n play and sit nearby reading my book. I put some of his favorite quite toys (books, stuffed animals, a little blanket maybe) in his pack n play with him, and sit and read. When he would stand up and reach for me, I would say, I love you ds I'm going to read my book right here - can you lay down and go to sleep?

When we first started, we would look at this one book right before bedtime called Baby Faces - its just a book filled with baby faces and the last one is a baby sleeping. When we got to the last page, I would say, "See, that baby's tired! He wants to go night night! And see this baby? This baby DID go night night! He laid down and went to sleep!"

With me staying right there, it worked! Now I can even go do dishes in the other room (I still have to leave the light on - but its soft and not too bright), and as long as he can hear me say I love him when he calls me, he happily goes to sleep.

[blizzard_babe]

It wasn't until DS turned two that we really had any success getting him to sleep on his own. It corresponded with a big leap in his communication skills. Once he was really able to understand and respond (not just yes/no or single words, but carry on a conversation about how he felt) to things like, "I'll be right back," "I'm just going to brush my teeth and then I'll come check on you," "I'm going to fold a load of laundry, I'll be right outside the door," we had much more luck. Now when we've finished our nighttime routine, he tells me I have sugarbugs and need to go brush my teeth .

It wasn't in a crib, though... he just has a big boy bed with rails.

[mizznicole]

Can your DH take over?

Sadly, I have found that DS falls asleep 90% faster when he's with DH or MIL, the little stinker. One night I had a meeting until late, and DH had to put him to bed without me for the first time in over 2 years. There were no tears and he fell asleep quickly. Now why the heck I'm still putting him to bed every night is beyond me...

[not_telling]

DS is almost 2 and our routine right now is:

Stories in the rocking chair.
Hug time either in rocking chair on in mom & dad's bed.
Putting DS into his crib (which right now is next to our bed, but will be in his own room in a few weeks) after going through the list of family members who love him and how he's going to have good sleepies.
Holding his hand through the crib slats for 5-10 minutes. (Sometimes he falls asleep by this time.)
After 5-10 minutes of hand holding, if he's still awake, I say softly "I can't hold your hand anymore, but I'll stay right here while you go to sleep." Then I read a book.

This is sooooo much better than when I had to be hands-on with him for him to fall asleep. I get to do something I love doing (reading) and he practices going to sleep without anyone holding him, patting him, etc. It's been going pretty well. There are some times when he jsut keeps playing and talking and playing and talking in his bed and I let him do it for a while, but then I say (pretty firmly) that it's not a playing and talking time anymore. That he needs to close his eyes and go to sleep.

Now, I personally have sleep issues from time to time, so part of me feels like it's too much pressure to be told "you have to go to sleep right now." BUT, I swear to you, when he's playing and playing and I firmly tell him to go to sleep, it's like he has permission to stop keeping himself awake and he goes to sleep pretty quickly.

My plan is to gradually hold his hand less (maybe just a couple minutes) and then spend less time in his room while he goes to sleep - do the whole "I just have to....and then I'll be back to check on you."