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"I don't want to go to bed Mommy"

Elizabeth - posted on 01/28/2009 ( 2 moms have responded )

My 3 year old daughter Hailey was a breeze to get to bed right up until her little brother Kaden made his debut. Never fought it and she would sleep right through the night right from the beginning, now when we put her to bed, we fight with her a good hour or two before she finally gives in. We try not to rush in everytime she yells, but then she starts pounding on the door, and we can only listen to that for so long, not to mention she usually wakes Kaden up in the process. If we don't come right away, she usually empties all her clothes out of the dresser, we have child locks on the drawers, but she can still fit her little hands in there and pull everything out. We are so tired of fighting with her, so does anyone have any suggestions on how to get her to bed without the fighting?

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User - posted on 03/19/2009

You're not alone-if that helps any. My son is doing the same kind of thing. Baby #2 is due in June and I'm desperate to get this under control. I thought of starting a reward system and plan to start it next Monday (in-laws are coming tomorrow so not a good weekend to start). My plan is this...No TV 1 hour before bedtime and nap time-since it can actually hipe them up. Starting with nap time we will go upstairs, read two books, spend a couple minutes having quiet time. Then in bed. I will stay in there until he gets the hang of it. He will be told if he stays in bed and rests-without getting out-when he wakes up he gets a prize from a prize box. I am just starting with nap time because night time is too long to wait until morning to really grasp the concept. I have no idea if it will work or not but I wanted to pass it on as something that might help you too. I have been having this problem for over a month now and have learned I have to be really consistent or he really takes advantage. Good-luck. If you find anything that works please pass it on to me too..I could use the help!

Pamela - posted on 02/03/2009

Hi Elizabeth,

I developed a product that might help you out. It is called My Tot Clock, and it helps small children know when they're supposed to stay in bed and when its okay to get out of bed. It uses colors to teach them the difference. When the clock turns blue, they know they should be sleeping. When it turns yellow, that's their queue that its okay to get out of bed. It also plays bedtime stories and lullabies, which is a nice way to "motivate" Hailey to get in bed right when the blue light turns on. If Hailey won't get into bed and put her sleep face on, you can always stop the bedtime story until she cooperates. The first story is called "Welcome to Children's Dreamland" and it is filled with positive messages read in a very slow, hypnotic way. The blue light on the clock will also give her a little extra light so she's not to scared (if that's an issue).

You can check My Tot Clock out on www.mytotclock.com. I hope this helps, Elizabeth!