How do you get a 5 yr old boy to bed???

Question

He gets up early for school, but still won't go to bed on a night time... any tips greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks

Answer 1

Who is the adult, you or him? Just make him go and stick to your guns. Don't let him rule you!
Have you watched Supernanny? She has the right idea. You have to be firm and consistent.
Years ago, when we were fostering we had a child to stay with us. The child's grandparents told us that she never went to bed until her mother went, often after midnight. They advised us to go along with this because they had tried to change her bedtime and she would not accept it. They also said that we should not attempt to take her shopping because she would play up all the way around the supermarket and embarass us. They knew because they had tried this and they were simply unable to cope. The little girl in question was 18 months old.
That night we put her to bed at 7pm, she protested and tried to get up straightaway. We put her straight back to bed and explained that she would have to stay there. No shouting or threatening from us, just a quiet and calm explanation. After 10 minutes she was up again, so we quietly, but firmly, led her back to bed again. She eventually settled down at around 10pm,
The next night she held out until 9pm.and so on until on the fourth evening she went to bed at 7 and went straight off to sleep.
The following day, I took her to the supermarket with 2 more foster children, one was the same age as her and his sister was 3 years old. I had no problem with any of them and, in fact, the checkout operator congratulated me on my lovely children and remarked on how well behaved they all were,
Be firm, be kind , but above all be consistent!

Answer 2

I have a 6 year old boy and I had trouble getting him to go to bed also. I decided to let him stay awake with the television on and sure enough, if I don't go in and check on him or tell him he has to go to sleep, he does. I put him in his pj's,give him a bath and have him brush his teeth at 8pm, then I go in once to tell him that he must stay in his bed to watch TV and that I would be up to check on him later. Around 9pm every night he is out like a light. I don't know the details on your son, but most boys are the same. If that doesn't work, I take him out for a bike ride around the neighborhood for 40 minutes after dinner and get him really tired, then follow the same steps as above and it always works. Schedule is key, so do the same thing every night and it becomes habit and expected and no more crying. I hope it works for you.

Answer 3

The first thing you need to do is establish a routine and stick to it every night. You may want to have a set schedule for everything else too, so that he gets used to being on a routine. Suppertime is at ?:00, TV time is ?:00, bath time is ?:00, bedtime is ?:00, etc...At bedtime, do whatever you want to, like read to him or sing songs and then when the lights go out..that's it.....no getting up, no drinks of water, no calling you back into the room, etc... Make sure he knows the rules, talk to him about what you expect and what the consequences will be if the rules are not followed.

You need to take control of the situation (which you will be doing by setting the schedule). My mother or father would have never asked HOW to get me to bed when I was 5. You say he "won't" go to bed. Then pick him up and take him there. You are the one in charge, not the 5 year old. He's likely not going to say, "Oh, yeah, a bedtime! Yippee!" and fall right into it. It will take perseverance on your part to stick to things and make him follow your rules. But, that's what rearing children is....it's teaching them proper behavior and doing things they may not like for their own good. Good Luck!!!

Answer 4

What do you do when he gets out of bed? Childrens actions are based around the response they get from adults around them - if we do something once and get a positive response - or sometimes any response, we are likely to repeat that action, if we do something, and learn that we have done said action in futility, then we will usually give up.

You need to get him into a rutine so that he knows what to expect - that bed time is bed time and that that is that. You need to take back the control in the relationship, you're the adult and bedtime shouldn't be a comprimise but a rule.

I suggest; tell him that you have a new bed time rutine - every night (at whatever time you think is appropriate) bath him, then read him a story and tuck him in. He is likely to try and get out of bed again as he used to this being the ok thing to do. Take him straight back and tuck him in again, the first time, tell him "it's time for bed sweety" - the second time, "it's time for bed" the third, "bed" from then on, dont talk to him, just pick him up and put him in bed. He may try to argue (don't argue back, it's "it's time for bed" and put him in) and it may take a few times getting him in before he learns the new rutine, but I guarantee - if you stick to it, he'll soon learn.

good luck,

tasha :)

Answer 5

Hi, I have been blessed in that both my six and one year old go to bed by 7pm. However there have been problem times with the 6 year old. My best advice is to be strict and put him back to bed straight away its hard at first but after a few times they'll give in. Also you could try as we did with our son, put a DVD player in the bedroom and put the DVD on repeat and generally they fall asleep watching the DVD. Your little boy obviously does not need much sleep. Also try looking in Boots for a lavender spray - its in a purple bottle by the baby things.

Answer 6

this calls for tough love!!
put him into bed and be prepared for along night! Get a book and stay near so you are not running up and down the stairs!
if he gets up take him straight back and keep repeating over and over. even if he screams. In the morning praise him for sleeping and repeat the next night. After 7 days give him a little treat and explain that 7 days later he can have the same.
Really tire him out before bedtime like playing football, the park so he is tired before bed. Fingers crossed for you it's hard work.

Answer 7

He is only 5, dont let him become the adult. Before he goes to bed play a game with him to wear him out, give him a bath a warm drink, put him into bed and read him a story. Leave him with a soft/quiet music tape playing and a soft light on and tell him it's time to go to sleep now.

Answer 8

what you have to do is calm him down before he goes to bed... read him a story and listen to some calm music...if he still wont go to sleep then take away certain privileges that you might give him.. such as watching TV the next day or a favorite blanket... he might not learn in the first night... he might think that you don't really mean it... after the first night or so he should realize that you mean business and listen to you....if none of this works.. meaning if he still doesn't want to go to bed after taking away all of his privileges then i would spank him... but only if it is absolutely necessary...i have grown up with kids all of my life and i know that every kid has a hard time going to sleep at that age.. you might still have to put up with it a little but they'll grow out of it... hope this helps

Answer 9

Depends what you give him to eat, what he does when he gets home from school and what he does just before bed time.

I have a son with ADD and getting him to bed was always a nightmare. I would get a routine going and stick to it. Tea, bath, milky drink bed time story then bed. Easy it sounds but consitency is the key.

Answer 10

Try to settle him down before bed time...if he is relaxed he will be more willing. Place a small cookie under his pillow, just where he can see it, never let him know it was you. He'll soon out grow it. It worked with my hyper-active son.
The stories we tell now are precious.
He still laughs about finding cookies and has passed on the
fun to his daughter.