Bedtime Troubles - Four Ways to Help Get Your Children to Sleep on Time

Something I hear far too often from other other parents (and something I, too, used to complain about) is difficulty getting a child or children to bed and keeping them there. For any parent who has experienced this even once, they understand it can be quite a pain to pinpoint what and why the child is staying awake and/or keep coming out of their room. However, here are some personally tried and perhaps useful ways to get your kid to finally stay in bed.

Televisions

Let me first say that having a tv in a child's room is a big no-no. However,as they seem commonplace, as a recent cnn news article stated, a household now has an average of 4 televisions in a house, one likely to be in a children's room. While seeming perfectly harmless, they are in fact, tools of the devil in a less harmful way. A bedroom and bedtime are supposed to be used to sleep and while some kids do respect this blessing of entertainment in their room, some will disobey and use the tv as a lure. One of my friends often times has this complaint - she'll put her daughters to bed and within an hour she hears a tv in their room blaring, followed by little giggles of pleasure. Without giving me a moment to inquire why she kept it in there if it was an obvious keeping-awake tool, she prattled on about it's only a dvd player and television, not cable so the girls have safe movies in there to watch. But I think she missed the point. As long as the children have a tv in their to amuse themselves with, they won't be sleeping. Even after I finally mentioned this, she said that it was their bedtime routine, they get to watch a movie and fall asleep to it.

By letting a child watch television in their room, you're basically telling them it's all right to stay up past bedtime as long as they stay in their room. This, in my eyes, seems totally unacceptable. By simply unplugging the tv, the child can get up to plug it back in. However, try removing the tv for a night and see if the child or children remain up. If they do, perhaps the television isn't the main problem.

Toys in Bed

Toys in bed spell disaster. I can understand a favorite doll to cuddle with, just like the next parent, however, when you allow multiple toys in the bed, chances are there won't be dreaming, but plenty of playing. I know this can't be fully prevented, as you can't honestly remove every plaything from a child's room, however, you can limit toys allowed in bed to just one. Two and they have a reason to play. Granted, it's easy for the child to climb out of bed, go get toys and play, however, make it a point to state that you WILL be back in to check on them. This way even if they fall asleep before check-in, they know that at any time there may be an open door and a very unhappy parent standing there. Tell the child they may have only one toy to sleep with (if any, you can always opt to have a zero toy rule, that works) and if it's abused, there will be a no toy in bed rule enforced.

Noises and lights

This one I have had plenty of personal experience in dealing with a non-sleeping child. If there is even a light or noise immediately outside the child's room, they're up and out prodding around because of the stimulation. If a child's bedroom is immediately off of a living room where there's a television on after bedtime, shut it off before the child's bedtime. The same with lights, turn them off, tuck the child into bed and leave them alone. It's inconvenient for some adults, true, but hopefully within 15 to 20 minutes if the child sees and hears no reason to get up then they will go to sleep and you can go back in to watch a movie. I've found that if there's nothing to lure the child out of the bedroom at bedtime, they tend to fall asleep easier. This also goes for a radio, too. Any remote noises and there's a reason for a child to be up, even if they claim the noise scares them.

Weekday/Weekend bedtimes

Another friend of mine was ranting recently about how on Sunday nights, her eldest child just will NOT go to bed. In fact, she says that weekends are often the hardest, as well as an occasional Monday or Tuesday night to follow. I asked if there was a television, radio or toy issue, when she stated that there WAS a television but it isn't on, I asked what time she was going to bed. When she said ten or eleven on weekends as opposed to 8 on a school night, I was appalled.
Kids need structure. Not just on weekdays, but all around. You wouldn't make them eat lunch or dinner a few hours late just because it's not a school day, you can't expect them to be able to operate properly unless their sleep is scheduled just like their eating times. Besides, if the kid stays up later one day, they sleep in and will want to be up later to burn off the energy. I would seriously suggest not alternating a bedtime between weekdays and weekends.

While there may be other reasons why a child stays up when they SHOULD be in bed, these four are a good start to trying to pinpoint what it is preventing them from getting their required sleep on time. Take a look around, give each one a shot if they apply and hopefully soon you figure out your own method to getting those little darlings on a regular sleeping pattern.