bedtime

I do not know if this is a behavior problem, or something else. but my son is a very active 20 month old, happy through the day, until it is nap or bed time, and only for the last week or so, he screams for up to two hours, and i am at a loss, I do not know how to deal with it. I need some advise or help.

[4Deb]

My son has had periods of doing the same exact thing ( he is now 27 months old) . It will go on for weeks then abrubtly stop (having no problems at nap and bedtime). Then months later it will start up again. He too is  very active and happy until nap or bedtime.  Doesn't it just "kill" you when they torturously scream for 2 hours straight!? Yikes! I noticed  that he had a molar cutting through. He never showed any outwardly symptoms or signs that he was having teething pain. I know that if I am having some kind of pain or don't feel very well. I notice it more when I try to go to bed at night. During waking hours, it gets "forgotten about" due to being active etc... but when there's nothing occupying me, I tend to feel it full force and have problems relaxing. Also, I noticed my son will go through this when there is some type of change, even a remote minute one, in his daily routine. Others have suggested to me that maybe my son doesn't need to nap any more BUT by his behavior in the late afternoon and evenings when he does NOT nap...that's not accurate. In addition, with my boy there is a very very fine line between him being tired enough to go down easily and being too tired that he can't go down at all. Unfortunately, after all this time I still haven't figured out where that line is. Will your son fall alseep if you hold him and rock him? Others have told me to have a nap time and bedtime routine...we always have so that was never the problem. If my boy is having a good time playing and I interrrupt him because it's nap time or bedtime......I'm in for the screaming too. I know it's rough and I hope my experiences can help shed some light on your situation.