Training a Child

The past two Sundays evenings Dawson has refused to stay in the nursery at church.  So I have tried taking him into church with me.  He does well during the music, but as soon as any talking starts he cannot be still or quiet.  I have read different methods on how to train a child to sit still during church; however, I do not expect a 2 year old to sit still for an hour all of a sudden when he has never had to do so before.  So I have been thinking of ways that I can help train him to sit still and quiet during church.

We read him Bible stories at home and even listen/sing children's Bible songs.  However, there has never been any structure to when or how or what we do.  On Monday, I decided to have more structure by adding in a designated Bible Story/worship time for him.  So after breakfast I sang "This is the Day the Lord Has Made," prayed, read him the creation story from one of his Bible story books, prayed again, and finally sang "My God is so Big" to him.  Of course, when I started off he fought it, but after a little time he settled down.  We did the same thing today, and he actually was pretty quiet and still, except for pictures he had to point out in his Bible.  This worship time right now is only lasting about 10 or 15 minutes, but I figured it was a start.  Hopefully we will be able to add more time to it soon.

I would love to hear other ways to train a small child to sit still for long periods of time.  So if you have any suggestions, please comment.