For the past several months, I’ve been engaged in one of the oldest battles in history. My opponent looks deceivingly sweet and innocent during the day, but come nighttime she transforms into a howling, brawling, terror. I might have nearly 100 pounds on her, but we’re fairly evenly matched in stamina and stubbornness.
By now I’m sure you’ve guessed that I’m talking about my nightly bedtime battle with my daughter. Oh why oh why oh why does she fight bedtime so much? I don’t ask for much out of my children. Really. I just want them to fall asleep at least one hour before I collapse into my bed each night. Just. One. Hour.
Please.
My three-year-old and I have entered into an all-out war and I’m waiting with bated breath to see which one of us comes out the victor. I really think I’ve tried every tactic in the parenting playbook at this point, but I’m welcome to entertain suggestions (no matter how strange!) if anyone has them. Because I have to admit, I don’t have a good feeling about my odds.
My Daughter was like this a while back too. What I did was get a chair and sit right outside her doorway. If she tried to come out, I was right there. If she tried to play, I was right there. It sucked to use my alone time for that, but after a while she gave up and knew I would be there and accepted the routine. Worth a shot…
My 3 yr old is just like that, too! OMG, the nights of putting her back in bed, back in bed, back in bed. And then once or twice a week she wakes up and cries and wanders around the house, too. FAAAABulous. Good news is that the five year old goes to bed with a simple “Bedtime!”… so at some point, it gets better.
Just checking in. No new posts from you in awhile. Hope everything is all right.
Awe, thanks! Actually, every thing is going really well. So well that I haven’t felt the need to write as much. Thanks for checking in with me – that was so nice of you!
Oh My …
I know what you mean. Even waking her up early doesn’t do the trick? My three yr old requires at least one nap. So I make sure it’s early. And usually I fall asleep on their bed while trying to get them to sleep.
So I feel your pain.