Hi

We have a 16 month old who has been excellent at getting to sleep. At
seven pm we take her up with a bottle, lay her down in her cot, she
drinks the bottle and falls asleep.

However, in the last month things have taken a turn for the worse. She
now recognises the fact that bottle means bedtime, and is determined
not to go, even if extremely tired. We take her up and she refuses her
bottle. Eventually she will take it, drinks it then wants to come back
downstairs. She then starts crying for Mummy and Daddy.

We are determined not to get into the habit of bringing her back
downstairs so have to let her cry until she falls asleep. We do go into
her room every ten minutes to reassure her and let her know that we are
around, but it breaks our hearts to hear her crying.

Once asleep, she will go though until seven am.

Are we taking the correct approach with this, or should we be bringing
her back downstairs? If she comes back down for half and hour, she
usually then goes up without a fuss. Perhaps she simply needs a later
bedtime?

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

James