So we made the mistake of letting our daughter lay in bed with us before bedtime (sometimes until she falls asleep but not always) and we now would like to omit this part of our routine and just have her right from the get go to go to her own bed at nighttime. We've tried to lay in her bed with her and read a couple of books but when we are about to leave she gives us a really hard time and cries alot - says she doesnt want to be all alone (which I then tell her she's not and that she has alot of baby dolls etc to keep her company - which she then says yeah, but they dont talk to her). Its a real struggle to get her to her room at night - its like an hour process - she keeps finding things to stall the inevitable. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
well maybe what you need to do is hold her untill she is like dead alseep then just slowing go back to your bed.
We still go through this with our 5 year old. Either he'll lay by us until he falls asleep or we'll go in his room and read a story and say prayers and then try to sneak out. Most nights in his own bed but sometimes I like to snuggle with him in front of the TV before bed.
We read a few books, lay in my son's bed with him to say prayers and talk a little, then we leave. He sleeps with his dresser lamp on all night and if he puts up a fuss, we tell him we'll turn off the lamp. He usually stays in bed. Occasionally, he'll run to the top of the stairs and cry, but I tell him he better get in bed before Daddy hears him or he'll be in trouble. This is enough for my little guy. Also, we talk about how God will protect him. He also has an "angel" on his ceiling and he says she watches over him too! (The angel is a spot that was spackled and not sanded and he noticed that it was shaped like an angel.)
I feel your pain!! Instead of getting in bed with her, maybe you can sit in a chair in the room or on the floor next to her bed. My boys share a room and he sees me sitting in the glider with his younger brother to read, so his new thing is to ask if he can sit in my lap, too. (Daddy usually reads to our older son.) Get a clock in her room and tell her you're only going to stay until X. We have a digital clock, so I make the time only for a few minutes and tell him he can sit in my lap until the clock says XX, then you have to go to bed. He also continually gets out of bed; unfortunately, we resort to warnings and telling him that toys will be taken away the next time he gets out. Then, he just ends up calling out for us to come in the room. Is she motivated by rewards? At least that's more positive than constantly threatening to take toys away. Anyway, we still haven't figured out the getting to bed part because he also comes into our bed in the middle of the night. Our latest tactic is that he will get a star on a calendar for every night he sleeps in his own bed all night. When he reaches a certain number of stars, he'll get a reward. Good luck.
Is your child in pre-school? What helped with mine was we stated during the week because of school she must start out in her own bed and if she wakes up she can still crawl into ours. We limited the time we spent with her in the room. But a half our show on the tv or music tape on. On the weekends I left it alone.
