My kids stopped having a day sleep at around 13 months and because of this i just used to put a pillow down in the lounge room and put a movie on or read a book and they would at least have a rest.

If he is sleeping all night then at 19 months it wouldnt be critical to have the day sleep. i know we all need that peace and quiet for our own sanity and i found that rest time worked alot better than a forced nap time.

Sometimes they even fell asleep. I found movies that really held their attention.

Hey there I remember watching this on a settling video...(I had same problem with my son for 4-5 days where he would not sleep for up to 13 hours at a time).

I used to put him in his swinging cradle to sleep and then pick him up and put him in his cot (he never slept in his cot until i applied this technique).

The video explained that it doesn't work. It's like if we fell asleep in our bed and then suddenly woke up in the bath rub we would freak out!! So if baby is asleep somewhere else then gets put somewhere else, they will react the same way.

The video's technique suggested Feed, play, settle, sleep. Feed your baby, play with your baby, then settle the baby then put him/her to bed.

When your son is in his cot, explain to him that he has to go to sleep. Then stay and pat him on the back. Faster pats if he is hysterical and slow soft pats if slightly unsettled.

Face him on his side away from you so he can't look at you and be distracted.

Then leave the room. Let him cry for 10 mins. Then go back in, face him the opposite direction from you again and pat again accordingly. When he is settled, go back out. Keep doing this until your son has settled and stopped crying. It may take some practice but I couldn't believe that it worked the very first time with my son. First time ever he has slept in his cot and during the day after his feeds.

Don't let him fall asleep when you are patting him or he wont learn to settle himself when he wakes up.

Be persistent.

I hope it works because I thought my son after nearly a week would never sleep during the day for me. And I thought I would never be able to get him out of his pram to sleep in his cot because he hated it. It worked for him the first time I tried it. I couldn't believe it.

 

i have found boring repitition and consistancy are the key...

he will soon learn that he is not going to win and then he will settle back into a routine (which may be different from before) he is at a stage of trying to test how much control he has over you.  if it takes two hours of getting up to him and just placing him back in bed with no words or eye contact, he will soon learn that it wont be you to give up first. it will probably take less than a week for him to figure it out. i know it is really hard and tiring but he has to learn to settle himself or this could go on for months so you have to be strong and CONSISTANT!

as for the port a cot ... my daughter HATED hers. so i put it up in the lounge room for a few days so she just got used to seeing it, then i moved it to her room for a couple of days and then i put her in it for her daytime naps at home. and never had a problem with it afterwards.

good luck

 

Why not try, closing yourself and your child in a room (so incase child not sleep and you do child is confined and safe), remove all but one stimulus from the room and YOU get some sleep. The benefit of this is twofold. 1 your child will get bored and settle and fall asleep, and 2 you too will get some extra needed rest to help ease the frustrations. And should this in some way be one of your 'settling techniques', then be sure too not give into your child. Two main factors to keep children awake (other than sugar and red cordial), is STIMULUS and SOMEONE to get a reaction from.

In stead of trying to force a routine onto a child, have them ease into one, so why not make it yours and reap some positives from it too.

As far as the portacot, they make really good expensive, waste of money toy boxes. Personally Id save the space in the car for more toys to occupy my little one, because as far as any routine goes, your child will be in an altogether different environment, and he obviously doesnt like it so why stress a child more.

have you tried a consistent day time routine with him.  my kids always knew when to expect nap time, because it was at the same time every day.

i found that a busy, active morning, followed by a quiet lunch, then a book in bed always got my kids to sleep.

maybe Damian is one of those cherubs that drop their nap early.  I hope for you that he does continue to have sleeps (its that one piece of sanity during the day). 

as for the weekend away, have you considered perhaps letting him sleep in bed with you if the portacot doesn;t work.  i know it can be really stressful trying to keep noisy, crying babies quiet, especially in a hotel room.  mybe try putting him to be later than usual, so that he might give in to his tiredness easier.

take him to the park, let him burn off some energy, and then he might go to sleep better.  the fresh air will do you good too.

if it gets too much for you, make sure damian is in a safe place, walk away, and scream into a pillow (gets rid of some of those frustrations) then return to him.

good luck