This started during an illness and somehow became permanent. Bedtime now takes almost an hour because we have to stay until deep sleep. Has anyone gradually changed this without a major crying battle?
A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.
We tried something similar once, but probably gave up too early. How long did you continue before judging it? Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. We are in Hyderabad, so local logistics may be a little different.
We had better luck changing one thing at a time instead of starting a full new routine overnight. Toddlers somehow notice every change at once. We changed our approach after about a month because the first plan was too hard to sustain.
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Thank you. I like that this does not require changing everything at once. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We are in Ahmedabad, so local logistics may be a little different.
Replying to @tp2161
That clarifies it, thanks. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
Did your child take time to adjust, or was the improvement fairly quick? The daycare and home using the same language helped us. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.
Consistency between the adults mattered more than the exact method for us. When one person gave in and another held the boundary, the whole thing took twice as long. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.
We tried something similar once, but probably gave up too early. How long did you continue before judging it? The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.
Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We are in Bengaluru, so local logistics may be a little different.
This helps. I am going to add this to the questions for our next visit/meeting. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.
Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.
This is useful, thank you. The practical detail is exactly what I was looking for. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
Our daycare teacher gave us a short update after drop-off for the first week. Knowing the crying stopped quickly made it much easier to stay calm at the gate. We are in Mumbai and this came up for us last year.
Can I ask roughly what age/class your child was when you tried this? The daycare and home using the same language helped us. We are in Chennai, so local logistics may be a little different.
Could you share what you would do differently if you were starting again? The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We are in Chennai, so local logistics may be a little different.
Replying to @eq6889
This is helpful for us too. The first few days were definitely messier than the later ones. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
Our daycare teacher gave us a short update after drop-off for the first week. Knowing the crying stopped quickly made it much easier to stay calm at the gate. It took us a couple of weeks before the new routine felt normal. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.
A visual routine with two or three pictures worked surprisingly well at this age. The child liked knowing what came next. My spouse had a different view initially, so we tried it for a few weeks before deciding. Keeping the change small made it easier for our child. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.
That is reassuring. We are trying to avoid making this a bigger issue than it needs to be. We had to repeat the same boundary many times before it clicked. We are in Bengaluru, so local logistics may be a little different.