Sleep, Little Toddler, Sleep
How do make your child want to go to bed?
Cherylyn Feierabend
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Sleep, Little Toddler, Sleep
 
Hey there! You’re listening to the Mighty Mommy with some quick and dirty tips for practical parenting.
Listeners are writing in and I love it! There seems to be a sudden surge of children who don’t want to sleep anymore. I’ve offered a few tips on this topic in Getting Babies to Sleep but those tips related mostly to parents of infants. Now, the parents of toddlers are asking for help with the older bunch. Well, I don’t want to disappoint any of you so I’ve done my best to come up with some nifty tricks to help those sleepy, stubborn, little cutie-pies make the choice to go to sleep on their own.
One listener, Daniel, wrote in using the same words I would use: “I wonder if there’s a way to convince [my daughter] that going to sleep is her idea, and a good thing to do.” Yes! Daniel, you’ve got the right idea. When a child thinks he’s putting himself to bed, it makes it much easier on the parent. The question is, “How do you make your child want to go to bed?”
Convincing a child to think differently may require a bit of trickery. What? You don’t want to trick your kid into going to bed? OK, maybe trickery is the wrong word, but some subtle hints at the good things kids can expect from going to bed “now” might encourage them to think about it. There are two nights each year that my daughter can’t wait to get into bed. These are the night before her birthday and Christmas Eve. Why? Because tomorrow will come faster if she goes to sleep now, and tomorrow brings presents. Tomorrow can always have something special waiting if you think about it. Encourage your child to look into the future and make your child want it to come faster. “Tomorrow we are going to the park. So, you’ll need a lot of rest. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner it will be time to go.” Believe it or not, something that simple might work if you haven’t tried it already.
An activity that has been recommended by other moms who tell me they’ve had success with it is to have your child say good night to all living and inanimate objects all around the house. Once it’s getting close to bedtime, start dimming lights and lowering volumes on or completely turning off televisions. Once everyone is calm, bathed, and dressed for bed, start in the main area of the house and work your way back to the bedroom, wishing everything and everyone good night. Say good night to all of the pictures, pets, toys, and people. If your child is using the potty, this is a good time to have your last visit to the bathroom, and say good night to the potty after you flush and wash. Other things you can say good night to are your toothbrush, your favorite chair, and the moon. Let your child know that once they’ve said good night to all of these people and things, it’s time to go to sleep. Your child is putting everything to bed. What’s left but to go to bed herself now? If she has any dolls or bears that are going to sleep with her, make sure she tucks them in before she gets into bed herself.
Finally, don’t be afraid of snuggling. I think a lot of parents worry that if they lie down with their children, their children will never go to bed on their own. Set a limit on the amount of time you spend and try to leave before your child falls asleep. Read some stories, sing some songs and then just take some time to talk about your day. A little bonding and one-on-one time can go a long way to reassure a child. My daughter begs me to stay with her, but I let her know that I’ll come back and check on her after she’s asleep and I always keep my word. If you say you’ll be right back or that you’ll be back later, be sure to follow up even if your child is asleep when you get there. It’s a beautiful thing to see right before you go to bed too. One of the cutest things I see every day is a sleeping child. I just can’t resist kissing my sleeping babies just one more time before I head to bed myself.
That’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed the show. Thank you for listening.
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The Mighty Mommy’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Practical Parenting is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips network at quickanddirtytips.com. This week Grammar Girl is talking about the words “regardless” and “irregardless,” so be sure to check out her podcast!
This is your friend the Mighty Mommy wishing you happy and fun parenting!
Music – “Golly Gee” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons “Attribution 2.0” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”
Sleeping Toddler image courtesy of Shutterstock