If according to our schedule, our son should take a nap at 8:30am and it takes him 10 minutes to settle down and fall asleep, should I put him in bed at 8:30 or 8:20 so that he will be asleep by the time the nap time officially starts?

Many thanks in advance for your advice!

Welcome!

The whole point of the cure is that the child learns to go to sleep on its own. It's pure genious!

So you put to bed 8.30 sharp.

All the best! /Luvisen

Hi again and thanks for the response. I have a couple of follow-up questions though.

If our son only falls asleep after 10 minutes (so 8:40 for an 8:30 nap-time in this case), do I wake him after he has slept the full 45 minutes or should I wake him at 9:15 (the time he should have woken up if he fell asleep right away)?

Also, he falls asleep after 10 minutes happily unassisted. We seem to think he likes to talk to himself a little before finally drifting off. Is this interval supposed to diminish after a while?

Many thanks in advance for your advice!

Hi,
if he falls asleep within the 15 min margin you can add that time to the nap. I.e. if he's put to bed at 8.30 and falls asleep 8.40 you wake him up at 9.25 (a 45 min nap). IF he's extremely cranky/tired you also have the option of putting him to bed as much as 15 min ahead of schedule. Got it? This can be applied to any nap!

Regarding the "winding-down time" this is absolutely normal. My son could lay in bed talking to himself for almost one hour when we put him to bed at night, quite happy You don't alway fall asleep right away either when you go to bed, do you? As long as he's happy, let him be. The winding-down period is also a form of rest, but if you feel like it, apply the 15 min margin here as well.
What's important to remember is that you can't sleep for your child only serve him the basis for sleep (the bed/a dark room/ the chant etc)! The rest is upp to him

Best of luck,
Tina