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My son also came home at 15 months. We built a bedtime routine then that we still pretty much follow even though he will be 6 in a few months.
Our bedtime routine starts with a bath (now, many times a shower). When he was a baby, I would then lather him up with lotion and get his jammies on him. I still help him put his jammies on, even though he is quite capable of doing it on his own. Then we spent time in the glider reading stories and talking about our day. Now, we do that snuggled up in his big boy bed. Lastly, I would give him a bottle and rock him quietly. However, I always put him into the crib while he was slightly awake. I felt that it was important for him to be able to fall asleep on his own. For the first 2-3 months that he was home, I would continue to sit in his room until he was fully asleep. To me, this gave him the comfort to know that I was there for him and would provide for his needs.
If he fussed during the night, I always checked on him.
However, at naptimes, I kept the routine much simpler. When we was still on a bottle, I did give it to him in the glider and rock him a bit, but then placed him in his crib to fall asleep on his own. During this time, I usually did not stay in his room until he fell asleep.
He's been a great sleeper all along. He attached wonderfully. If he had exhibited any issues, I might have felt the need to co-sleep or rock him to sleep or do something different, but for us, this worked well and continues to work well. We both look forward to our routine each night and to spending those last few minutes together before he drifts off to sleep on his own.
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