How to move away from rocking to sleep???

Tried to settle my little boy in his cot tonight, we had a good 10 mins cuddle after his story and I could see he was getting sleepy, so I lay him down, held his hand and patted his bum / back but he was then wide awake again. Gave it 5 mins before I picked him up for another cuddle, let him get start to get sleepy and put him down again, but then the cycle restarted, he was wide awake babbling away in his bed, playing with his teddy, pointing at things. He wasn't upset at all so I tried to ignore him, sitting by his bed so he knew I was there, in the hope he would just babble away until he nodded off but 40 mins later he was still wide awake. So I caved and picked him up and he was asleep within about 2 mins. His wake window ended up being over an hour longer than normal which is A LOT when he usually is pretty much like clock work with nap and bed time.

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@Nina Thank you. We do basically all of those things - consistent bedtime routine, sleep associations white noise and sleep sack, he's definitely tired because he's only on one nap and his last wake window is usually 6.5 hours, he is calm in his cot if I am in the room, he will roll around and play and chat, but he just doesn't fall asleep. Lots of sitting up and me laying him back down again. After like 30-40 mins he eventually stands up and asks for a cuddle, then starts inconsolably crying if I try to put him down again, then crashes to sleep in my arms because he's so tired. Don't know what to do next. He's 18 months.

Have you tried giving him comfort in the cot while he is in there to help him fall asleep? Then slowly reduce this as he gets more comfortable? Also, have you tried an earlier bedtime to avoid such a long wake window into bedtime? Maybe around 5.5-6 hours max?xx

@Nina Yes I have tried patting and holding his hands, shushing etc. He will have moments where he lies still and looks as though he's starting to calm down, but then he'll chirp up again and start rolling around wide awake! We've tried a shorter wake window in the past - he's always been fairly low sleep needs - any earlier he doesn't seem tired enough and even rocking and cuddling to sleep takes up to an hour x

Typical routine when not trying to settle in cot: Wakes 7am Nap 12 - 1:30pm Bedtime routine starts at 7pm inc bath, PJs, milk, story, teeth, sleep sack Asleep between 7:40 and 8 He still sometimes has false starts where he cries out in his sleep after around 45-60 minutes. Doesn't fully wake but cries a really sad cry and doesn't settle until he is picked up, then he's asleep again like we've flicked a switch. Doesn't happen every night but probably a few times a week.

I would push through the second wind of rolling around awake. He is likely to be getting overtired at that point and getting second wind but I would push through. If he starts to stand add more comfort and help him settle in the cot. He will have learnt that crying and standing up at the moment gets him rocked in your arms which is clearly better than being lonely in a cot. So I would try remain consistent with the cot and that fight will become less and less. You could try push his morning wake window to 5.5 hours to sleep till 2. And then it leaves a slightly shorter wake window into bedtime. X

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