Question
Hello there. Since he was very little, my little one had been going to be bed between 7:30 to 8 pm, preceded by him willingly going to the bathtub when told, playing/being washed in the tub, being read to, and being placed in the crib (even wide awake) without fuss. Now increasingly he is fighting bed time hard -- not wanting to go take a bath, not wanting to come out of the tub once he is in the tub, wanting to be read to forever once started, and not wanting to be placed in his crib.
Gradually, because of bedtime struggles and him wanting to be read to forever, his bed time has now essentially ben pushed to sometime between 8:50 to 9:30 p.m. Even then, I basically have decided to leave the light on when I feel I've read quite a bit, put him in the crib with a book, leave him and let him cry (standing in the crib) for a while before he fell down to sleep. What am I doing wrong? If his bed time too late? Should I start trying to ask him to go to bath as early as 7 pm, knowing it will be a long process? Should I physically force him to go to bath and go to crib, while letting him scream or flail around? As you may know from my previous questions, my husband is on active military duty at the moment so it is just me. Bedtime used to be very calm now it is very stressful. Thank you.
