Hello! I am having the same situation with my 10 month old. She has a full size floor bed, dark room, round machine, silent toys, etc. It seems like everything is in place for sleep but she cries and crawls around the room screaming. I don’t let her cry for more than 15-20 minutes so I go back in, rock her, then she will either fall asleep with me or will start the whole tantrum process again. Her naps are what we struggle with the most (2X day). Please help!

So, playing to sleep is a tricky one at this age, especially with children who resist sleep. (Some children naturally slow down and eventually give in to sleep, some children will fight til the very end.)
What is his current set-up? When the lights are turned off and he’s playing, are you present in the room or is he by himself?

My 10 months old also needs help to sleep. We turn off lights but he still wants to play with his toys until he’s overtired and starts to cry. At that point only rocking him in our arms would make him sleep. Any tips to make him sleep by himself? I don’t mind staying with him, just want him to develop a better approach than play until overtired as it affects the quality of his sleep. Thanks a lot!

I agree that not every aspect of any philosophy is going to be a perfect fit for every family, and I think we are always better off looking at these things critically and deciding what fits our family dynamics and each individual child.
Is this in reference to the “playing to sleep” concept? I don’t necessarily think that it’s about negotiating bedtimes, it’s about embracing that children can take a while to fall asleep and providing an alternative to a parent being there throughout the process or providing boundaries, especially if your child is likely to wander out of/around their room for hours after the established bedtime. For one family, that can look like “you can have this book in bed with you” and for others it may look like free reign of the room.

Thank you for your comment – I’m glad it was helpful to you.