I am desperate for advice. My son is due to start daycare two days a week in August, when he will be 1 year old. If he cannot self-settle by then, they will use controlled crying at nap times, which I do not want for him. I can't stand the thought of him alone and screaming for comfort and being ignored. I need to teach him to self-settle before then.

Some background: he is fed and/or rocked to sleep both for bedtime and naps. He usually wakes two or three times during the night but goes back to sleep easily with a bottle. We partially co-sleep-- he sleeps in his cot for naps, and I put him in his cot when he goes down at around 6pm, but after his first waking during the night I bring him into my bed with me.

I don't mind the night wakings, so I don't necessarily need a method that will get him sleeping through the night, or even one that will get him to go to sleep on his own at bedtime, as I really don't mind parenting him to sleep. I just need to teach him to self-soothe for naps.

He has a bedtime routine (dinner, bath, story, bottle. He usually goes to sleep during the feed but if not I rock him to sleep) but he doesn't really have a nap time routine other than a bottle and rocking. He always sleeps with white noise, but I suppose I'll have to cut that out at nap time too, since he won't have it at daycare.

I would really appreciate any advice. If someone could recommend a method for teaching him to self-settle that doesn't involve leaving him to "cry it out", I'd be really grateful.