Bedtime ideas needed

Faye - posted on 08/09/2011

My daughter was about 3 1/2 when we started using the sticker "bribe". If my daughter slept in her bed all night, she could choose a sticker (from the pack I already had) to place on her calender (I had an extra that year). After 5, she got extra time at the park or extra time with her friend who lived across the street. After 10, she got an ice cream at McDonald's. After 20, a small ($5-$10) toy from the store. After 50, a trip to Chuck E Cheese's. You can change as needed for your money situation. Maybe the trip to Chuck E Cheese is 100 stickers or 125. But remember that the longer the prize is away the more likely that the goal will not be met.



The larger the prize, the more time you have to save for it. At one point my daughter had slept almost the whole time frame (to the next prize, I don't remember which one it was) and she woke up in the living room the next morning. Oh boy was she mad at herself. She knew we had to start our count all over again (this had already happend on several of the smaller prizes more than once).



I think the sticker pack was 100 stickers of foil stars in 5 different colors. She was able to choose her color each morning,



The calender could hung above your daughter's dresser and that way she would know how many nights she had slept in her bed without these issues.

Claire - posted on 11/06/2009

at our house we have calm down time which is bath then pjs on and either dvd or we read a book and this does work

Lori - posted on 10/30/2009

We told my son every time he comes out after he goes to bed (other than to go to the bathroom at which time he's not allowed to talk to us), he owes us a dollar. Worked like a charm!

Paula - posted on 10/29/2009

My son is really active and it takes a while for him to calm down. In our house we have what we call Quiet time. My son gets between a half hour to an hour and a half (depending on the night and who is in charge of or having quiet time with him) he lays in my mom's bed and watches T.V or a movie. He gets to pick what he watches. The rules are that he lays down quietly and still, then when quiet time is over, he goes to his room and to bed. He knows the routine, he knows where to go after quiet time and he looks forward to quiet time. Sometimes we read a book together before quiet time, but the last thing he does every night (unless he's grounded for something really bad) is quiet time. It helps to calm him down for bed so that he's not bouncing around as much instead of sleeping. Now I'm not going to lie, sometimes we still have similar problems as you, but quiet time has always helped us!

Liz - posted on 10/21/2009

I found the best way to keep my daughter in bed is set limits and consequences. If she chooses to read in bed, lights out by 9:30. I don't mind her getting out of bed before then, but after 9:30 she looses time the next night. Another way to handle the situation is to go through her list of complaints asking her did you go to the bathroom, are you thirsty.....and when those are all satisfied, say to her, "Now, there is No reason for you to get out of bed." These are all just excuses to delay bedtime. And as long as she gets up in the morning (mine does not) then maybe a little later bedtime would be OK. DH gets irate when they keep getting up, so we have set rules and it seems to keep everyone happy. We have to do the same in the morning to get her up and dressed to catch the bus. If she plays around and makes us miss the bus, she looses her reading time in the evening as she is taking away from my business time since I then have to take them to school. Its working out great so far.

I hope this helps.

Liz

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