Looking for any advice or reassurance after weeks of terrible sleep resistance from our strong-willed 3-year-old. For background, he hasn’t had a pacifier during the day (including naps) for about a year. We got through a terrible winter of flus, illnesses, and other things and finally got to a point where things were stable. Why I decided this was a good time to wean from the bedtime pacifier is beyond me, but I was feeling happy/confident and we did it a few Saturdays ago after he said he was ready.
The first night was ok, had the predictable few middle of the night wakings, but since then he has resisted bedtime HARD and has been waking up at 5:30 running down the hallway to our room. It often takes us almost 2 hours to get him down at night, he’s sleep deprived and exhausted, but his little brain is just spitting out all sorts of thoughts and can’t seem to shut down without the soothing mechanism. I’m becoming a parent I’m not proud of as I transition from an hour of gentle parenting to an hour of pure frustration.
I’m kicking myself for suggesting we transition now, but what’s done is done. Any advice on things that have worked for you to keep your kid in bed? Bonus points if it worked on a toddler who’s obviously going through a huge developmental leap where the mind/body is in overdrive :)