That's so tricky isn't it! When they are displaying tired signs and you put them to bed but they happily play in there!

We still encounter that very problem now, Rachel. Not every day, but certainly at least once a fortnight I would say! A prime example would be today LOL. I put Jacob to bed at 11.30 and I've heard him in there playing for 45 minutes but I think he's gone to sleep now as it's dead quiet LOL.

So sometimes it seems it can take quite a while. I used to get really worried about this when he was younger and think to myself that it would muck up his sleeps for the rest of the day, or for the night, or that he'd never go to sleep etc. I don't worry about it quite so much now though. As long as he's happy in there, then I just leave him to it. I know that he's safe and happy if he's just playing in his cot. So I let it run it's course and have that wind down time to himself and I figure that if he actually doesn't go to sleep himself after an hour or hasn't cried and needed me to go in to give him his dummy to help him go to sleep, then he's probably not tired. But then I tell myself that he has had the benefit of some quiet time in his cot which is probably relaxing in itself. I can honestly say, that days where this happens - and he goes to sleep say an hour after he's been put to bed, it hasn't interferred with his sleeping patterns overnight. He may go to bed a fraction later, but that's about it really.

So I guess my suggestion would be that if you think Blake is tired, then sure, put him to bed. If he plays in there and he's happy, just leave him to it because he may play/chat himself to sleep (I found this difficult to do in the beginning because I was worried about his sleep getting out of whack for the rest of the day or overnight so I'd be going in trying to settle him when he was quite happy on his own IYKWIM?).

Having said that, go into him if he cries because he's probably started to genuinely become tired then and just needs that bit of help or the dummy to go to sleep - we find that Jacob will either put himself to sleep or start to get grizzly and we'll give him his dummy then and off to sleep he goes. There's only been one or two occasions where he hasn't gone to sleep at all after an hour or so, so we've gotten him up, had a further little play, perhaps a drink and snack and before you know it, he is totally ready for bed!

I'm not sure if that helps at all or if I've just waffled on LOL!!!