Have I created a monster?

When it comes to sleep and my children, I managed to get Little Bean and Beanie Boy into a good daytime sleep routine pretty much from the start. They both quickly fell into the same pattern of being put down to nap whilst awake and would have a 2 hour nap twice a day until they were 2 years old and from 2 until 3 years they would still have a 2 hour nap each afternoon. I distinctly remember when having friends around, if I put Little Bean or Beanie Boy to bed, my friends would comment on how easily they went to sleep but with Jelly Bean I appear to have created a monster.

Initially I would put Jelly Bean down to sleep in his crib in the lounge so that he didn’t disturb Beanie Boy asleep in his room and I think I maybe let this carry on for too long. Eventually once he moved into his cot in Beanie Boy’s bedroom I decided it was time to start putting him upstairs for his daytime naps. The problem I have had is that because of the school runs at 9am, 12noon and 3pm I struggle to fit Jelly Bean’s naps in and he often will fall asleep for 5-10mins in the car and then will not want to sleep when we get home. I have tried transferring him from his car seat to his bed but it doesn’t work, I have also tried leaving him in his car seat but he wakes up within 5-10 minutes and stays a bit grumpy until his sleep after lunchtime.

The result of this is that by the time I am putting him down for his nap in the afternoon he falls fast asleep as I am breastfeeding him and so he never gets the opportunity to go to sleep by himself and this is the same issue in the evening at bedtime. He is so tired by 7pm that he generally falls asleep within a few minutes of feeding at the breast.

Now at the age of 8 and a half months he will still wake once or twice through the night but not specifically for a feed, more so because he needs help to get back to sleep. I have tried this morning to get him to go to sleep by himself but after 45 minutes of screaming (I was in the room and occasionally picked him up, shushed and patted him) he only fell asleep when I held him up to my shoulder and rocked back and forth.

Have I left it too long to get him into a good sleep routine or is there still hope because I will be honest with you, I don’t think I can quite manage the cry it out method.