Photo by mollypop.
“But, Mom, I HAVE TERRIBLE DISEASES!” This was the excuse – one of my favorites – that flew out of my son’s mouth recently in an attempt to evade the evil clutches of bedtime. Before he was struck with these horrible diseases, he tried the typical “Mom, I’m hungry…Mom, I’m thirsty…Mom, I need to go potty” routine that is familiar to many parents.
In order to keep my sanity, I really need those few precious hours after the kids go to bed to relax, get some work done, or spend some time alone with my husband without being constantly interrupted by whatever mysterious bedtime-induced dehydration is plaguing my children. (Do you really need two pints of water before bed? Seriously.)
So through five years of trial and error, I have discovered these tricks to help keep my kids in their beds after bedtime:
Photo by taylorkydd.
1. Explain to your kids that daytime is for snuggling, and nighttime is for sleeping.
Tank them up on quality time during the day, and they won’t be as hungry for that extra attention during the night. Some younger kids have a hard time understanding the concept of “until tomorrow morning,” so we tell our kids that they have to stay in their beds until the sun comes up. They know if they wake up and the sun is shining, they are welcome to crawl in our bed and snuggle with us.
Photo by superhua.
2. Stick to a bedtime routine.
If you repeat the same schedule every night of eating dinner, brushing teeth, taking baths, reading stories and saying prayers, etc, your kids’ minds and bodies are more likely to start preparing for what’s next—sleep!
3. Reward them for staying in their bed all night.
We use a bead system. If the kids go to bed well the night before, the next morning when they wake up, they get a bead in their jar. (They can also earn beads for doing chores and schoolwork with a happy attitude.) When they get enough beads in their jar, they can choose from several rewards, including getting to sleep in our bed that night, picking out a family movie to rent, going on a special date with Mom or Dad, or earning an hour of video game time.
Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography.
4. Make their room a place they want to be.
We wanted our kids to look forward to jumping into their beds at night, so we let them pick out new comforters (Tinkerbelle and Batman). If you know an artist, you can hire them to paint a fun mural on the wall of your child’s bedroom. We just put a fish tank in our kids’ room with fish they picked out as a reward for earning their beads, and they love having their new pets in their room with them.
5. Reduce nightmares and bedtime anxiety
About a year ago, my son started having nightmares. We evaluated the shows we were allowing him to watch, and decided to cut out ones that might be feeding his imagination with scary images. Even though those shows didn’t scare him at all during the day, his nightmares virtually disappeared after we cut those programs from the DVR.
Make sure your children have plenty of comfort objects and nightlights to make them feel secure. Special blankies and stuffed animals are perfect for snuggling up with during the night, and IKEA has very affordable nightlights for kids, which can help ease bedtime anxiety. Be sure to remove any objects from your kids’ rooms that make them feel frightened when the lights go out. (Does the shadowy coat stand look like a monster to them when they are alone in the dark?)
6. Let them listen to soothing music while they fall asleep.
We loaded up a cheap MP3 player with comforting songs and hymns for our son to listen to as he is falling asleep. He no longer comes running out of his room after hearing every little creak and noise, and the music seems to help soothe his bedtime anxiety.
These are the bedtime tricks that have worked for my family. Leave a comment, and let me know what has worked for your kids!
