When your children prolong bedtime what do you do?

Question

Bedtime is 8 p.m. for my kids. However it is always a fight to get them there. When they are in bed they keep getting up. Sometimes they don't actually go to bed until 10 p.m. This time is supossed to be my time but by the time they are asleep I am too tired to take any time for myself. Any suggestions? Please no rude answers.

Answer 1

Actually, I start getting them ready about 1/2 hour before their actual bedtime. And if they don't get to bed on time, I take the time off tomorrow night's bedtime. Sometimes it's only 10 minutes, sometimes an hour. Eventually, they get the hint and get to bed when they're supposed to. It's worked for me...

Answer 2

Seriously, get the chapter book from the library or school library , Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. All of you will laugh together but it truly has some great principles and ideas in it. pinicky eater, kids who won't go to bed, sassing back, selfish. It is a hoot, not for teens tho. Kids not going to bed is in a high percentage of all homes. But, once again, it always takes a strong backboned parent to set the rules and follow thru like nanny 911 does. Never ever buckle. That is the first mistake. I like to reason even with a 3 year old. Explain why it is important for her and important for you. Calmly, maybe while during a ride to the store or such. Tell the child these will be the new rules. For example, I am going to set the alarm for 8 pm. When it rings, you need stop what you are doing and you have 10 minutes to get your pj's on, brush your teeth etc. Set the timer for 10 minutes. If the child doesn't complete the task, be sure to follow thru on the consequences the child has been told about before this. DON'T NAG, DON'T MAKE IT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. When the alarm goes off and the child doesn't move, say nothing, go over and turn the timer back on to 10 minutes. You do your part only. If the timer goes off after 10 minutes, the consequence happens. strong backbone, don't buckle even once especially until the child is "trained".

Answer 3

Well the only thing that i can tell you is that instead of starting the bed time routine at 8 when its time for them to go to bed start it earlier. Start at 6 by having them put their jammies on then a little while later have them brush teeth and so on. During the routine remind them bed time is at 8 you have two hours left and then one hour left and keep going until you remind them bedtime is in 5 minutes. Be stern but loving and let them know you are the boss.

Answer 4

Start the night time routine a bit earlier... Head them off at the pass get them a drink make sure they have gone pee, etc. in the 30 minutes prior to bed... Then sit in the hallway a few nights if they get out of bed be watching to scurry them back into bed asap... If they take a nap ellinimate it in part or completely so they will really be tired when they go to bed... Institute a stay in bed even if you are not sleeping policy... Tell them you can stay up and awake quietly in your bed all night if you want but you have to stay in bed... WHen they get up don't say "Back in bed and off to sleep now" say "Aren't you supposed to be in bed awake?" If the child is old enough to understand time start calmly taking away another minute each time the child gets up so tomorrow they go to bed at 7:59 then 7:58 and so on.... If your children are reaching age 8-9 it might be time to extend bedtime to 8:30 rather than 8...


If you mix and match the ideas you can find a solution that will work... THe more attention yo give them for getting up the more they will get up make sure to wisk them off to bed no extra goodnight kiss etc. just put them in bed you already said the i love yous and kisses when you put them in bed the firsttime...

Answer 5

I would place them in their room, turn off the tv and the lights. Do not let them get up for anything. Make sure they have used the restroom and any other thing they like to use as an excuse prior to 8pm. It is important to develop a routine for them instead of vice versa. That way they will know bed time is coming and be used to it.

You can also have them tire themselves out prior to bedtime so they are not energetic when going to bed.

If you entertain their antics during those two hours, they will continue to perform.

It may be hard, but ignore them especially if you know they are safe and do not need anything.

Answer 6

Sounds like my three year old! We've started removing things from her bed if she is having trouble staying in her bed after it's lights out. My husband and I usually give her about a half hour to unwind and get it out of her system, one of us will go in after about 10 minutes and remind her that it's time to sleep and try and tell her something fun that she has going on the next day and how important sleep is so she isn't super tired for whatever it is she'll be doing. Next time we go in she gets a warning, and strike 3 is the removal of a beloved stuffed animal or baby doll. Once that happens she usually realizes that we mean business and will stay in her bed...once she falls asleep we always put the animal or baby doll back so that she sees it when she wakes up in the morning.

Our pre-bedtime routine has changed as well...we brush teeth and go potty and all that stuff right before bed but we tend to put on pajamas right after dinner or bath time so that she knows it's time to begin settling down. Depending on how old your kids are some of these suggestions may help. I hope you get your time to yourself, it's such a great time of day!

Answer 7

what i did with my daughter when she was 6. at 7:30 I would have her go to bed and read for the 1/2 hour. this would calm her down and make her tired and she would go to sleep at the right time. also from 7 - 7:30 she would take a shower and have a bed time snack and brush her teeth (this didn't always work every night but most of the time it did) and remember DON'T GIVE IN TO THEM

keep up the good work it is very hard but they only get bigger and harder to deal with stop them now while you can

Answer 8

Time to enhance your acting skills mom.Mine did the same and this worked like a charm.I read to my kids at bedtime but not just any reading,,I made the most boring story exciting by acting it out in silly voices and my kids got the biggest kick out of it.I had no problems except for read another book lol.And you will have a blast too,to hear your children laugh so hard when you act silly.Try it for a week..,use short childrens books and good luck.

Answer 9

Something that helped me was keeping a sticker chart. My son was a king at prolonging bedtime. I posted a chart with stickers on his door. At bed time I put the sticker on. When he got out of bed more than 2X's at first I removed it. I reduced it to 1 time after a couple of weeks. At the end of the week, he got a special treat, a dessert after dinner, McDonald's for dinner something pretty small for a certain amount. I started out with 3 then increased it to 7 after a few weeks. Then it became a big deal just to remove the sticker and that worked by itself.

Answer 10

I found it helpful to read books to them. They are trying to spend more time with you. Sometimes that calms them down and helps them relax and go to sleep. It was very surprising to me how little time that actually took, although it's hard to make yourself do that. Having a bedtime ritual helps, too. Always doing certain things in a particular order: take bath, brush teeth, change into pajamas, read story, lights out, etc. They get used to it then, and don't think of it as negotiable.


When I met with resistance, I would bargain with them:
go to bed by 7:45, you get three books; go to bed by 8:00 you get one book; after 8:00... sorry, no book.


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