Im sure there are a million of these threads, but I don't have much time in the precious moments while Peter sleeps, so I have to ask you all for your assistance instead of reading through old threads.

Peter has been a good sleeper, but its all going awry now. Gradually his ability to settle himself for a nap has been getting worse and I have got into the habit of picking him up cuddling him to sleep (or back to sleep). This has been working pretty well, but instead of becoming an occasional thing, he is becoming dependant on it. I really do want to teach him to self settle as much as he is able to....I know he can because he has done it lots before- just not now!

So we have decided to go with a kind of comforted sleep route- basically, put him down when tired, if he cries, gently pat and wiggle his cot a bit and try to soothe him without picking him up- once he's settled, leave the room to let him go to sleep and if he cries again, we try to let him settle himself for a minute or two and if he doesn't, then we go in and pat and repeat, and repeat, and repeat.

Sounds like a great theory, but this morning has been a disaster. I tried all the patting etc and he just kept crying and crying and crying. We went through this for about 45 minutes when I decided we were not getting anywhere, so I got him up and had a little play and when he was calm, I put him down again and we tried all over. And he cried...and cried.....and cried. Eventually I took him for a walk and he fell asleep nicely in his pram.

Help! I feel like I haven't gotten anywhere! Am I doing something wrong? What should I do? Is this even worth it?

I know there are lots of different sleep theories and I'm so freaking confused!