Susan Epstein, Parent Coach's Answers To Bedtime Problems

Do you dread bedtime? Does your child call to you after you have already read 3 stories, plus 2 and checked for monsters and lined up the stuffed animals and made sure that the door was ajar in exactly the correct position to your child's specifications? Does your child get out of bed over and over until you are both exhausted and your child is crying?

Does your child demand that you lie down with her/him? And stay there until your child falls asleep? Do you find yourself drifting off and waking up two hours later in your child's bed? Or worse, when you try to sneak out, does your child wake up and demand that you return? Or do you wake up in your own bed and notice the extra little body sleeping peaceful beside you?

If any of this sounds familiar then you are probably waking up exhausted in the morning, dragging yourself through your day and dreading this evening when it all starts again.

How would you like to be able to tuck your child into bed with a night time kiss and have the rest of the night for you? And, how would you like to wake up feeling rested and refreshed the next morning?

And how would you like to have enough energy to make it through your day without needing a nap? And look forward to bedtime with your child?

Follow these instructions:

Today:

• Remove the TV's from your child's bedroom.
• Buy a portable timer.
• Buy or make a special pillow or stuffed toy-

Tonight:

• Before dinner, tell your child that there will be a new bedtime plan. Give them the pillow or stuffed animal and tell them that this is their very own Magical Protection. It keeps monsters out of kid’s rooms and helps kids get comfy and fall asleep very fast.

• 10 minutes before bedtime, tell you child they get to choose 2 to 3 stories, their choice, but no more. After you read each story repeat "ok that was number_ story we have _ left."

• Tuck your child in. Tell your child that you have a timer and are going to set the timer to go off in 5 minutes and that you are going to return and make sure that the Magical Protector is doing his/her job.

• When you go back, reassure your child that s/he is safe and tell them you will be back again in 6 minutes. Keep going back and start spacing out the checking.

• If your child gets out of bed, calmly walk him/her back to bed and repeat from the beginning.

• If your child ends up in your bed same drill. (I know you are tired!) Do it anyway.

The average time it takes to retrain your child is about 3 days. Sometimes more and sometimes less. The less you give in the quicker your successs will be and the more rested and peaceful you will feel!