2.5 yr old won't go to sleep without a video in mums bed

My 2 year old son screams for a video to watch(which is in our room) before going to sleep. He just cries and cries and cries.... if he doens't watch 'Nemo' or 'Ice Age' and this happens EVERY night.

We have tried books and a special toy to take to his 'big boy bed', i've even said that i will go to his room if he stays in our bed, and he just says 'bye'! When he has fallen asleep i carry him to his own room, but at some stage during the night he climbs back into bed between me and my husband.

He has been out of his cot for about 10 months as i wanted him in a 'big' bed for when our daughter was born, who is now 8 months.

He also refuses to have a daytime sleep, so i do put a video on for him in the afternoon and he is quite happy to lie there and watch it, some times he'll fall asleep, but not very often.

Do i need to just stop these videos? Its starting to really annoy us cause we don't get any time for 'us'!

Hi,

He is treating this as his sleep association and if you want to change this you will need to take control and not allow him to watch the movies and fall asleep in your bed. When he wakes later in his own bed he is not where he went to sleep and needs to go back to your bed to resettle. Making the change won’t be easy, they say it takes 3 days to make a habit and 3 days to break one. You will need to prepare yourself for a few battles, but once he is going to sleep in his own bed then you will all be happier for it.

As far as the daytime nap goes, maybe use this as your compromise point; allow him to just have some rest time with the movies during the day if he is outgrowing an afternoon nap, but definitely not at night. Take a trip to the library and get some new books to read at bedtime for the transition, Remember that falling asleep in his own bed is teaching him to sleep independently, don’t wait until he is asleep, after a set number of stories say goodnight while he is still awake.

Best of luck, Maree