Why won't my child go to bed?!!!!!!!

[Pithlet]

It is well past his bedtime, and he's still awake. He keeps coming out of his room askig for milk, or wanting to go potty. Bedtime is such a hassle. We do the whole constistant routine. He gets up at the same time every morning. Naps; no naps. This is so frustrating. He's going to be 4 next month. Anyone else have/had this problem?

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

1. My two year old likes to put up a fight at bed time.

Usually if we ignore him, he'll go to sleep. Some times we have to shut his door to let him know that we're serious about him going to bed. He hates having his door shut. I wish he was asking to use the potty. :)

[Pithlet]

7. When he was smaller, that worked for us, too.

He can open the door now. Sigh... I wonder how long this stage will last. I can remember going to bed and staying there when I was younger. I don't remember ever doing this.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

9. Well, he can open his door too, but

it works for him for some reason.

[Chalco]

2. Try bribery...it worked for me.

Except that my kid was basicly a good sleeper. But once in awhile she would start getting up and I need my sleep. I always convinced her to stop it, however, by telling her she could have a chocolate chip when she woke up in the morning if she didn't get out of bed during the night or if she did (like needing to go to the bathroom) she didn't come into my room and wake me up.

I would suggest asking him what reward he would like for not getting up. You always have veto power, but they tend to pick something unbelievably minor---like one chocolate chip--so you wont have any trouble giving it.

The pattern was I'd give her a chocolate chip 2 or 3 mornings and then we'd both forget about it because the pattern had changed and she wasn't getting up anymore.

Good luck!

[Pithlet]

5. Sometimes the reward thing does help.

He's a very active kid, though, and sometimes I think in his mind it just isn't worth it to go to bed when he doesn't want to, reward be damned. I wonder if he's about to go through another growth spurt or something, and this is just an energy burst. He's been eating a lot more lately, too.

[wildeyed]

3. Sleep issues are always the hardest.

We tend to go through phases. Easy for a while, then have problems for a few weeks. My four year old is getting up very early. I tell her, if she doesn't wake Mommy and Daddy up before 7, she can watch TV that day. Works about half the time. Oh well, at least she is not watching too much tube these days.

My two year old has been biffing his afternoon nap every third day or so. I am going to try putting him down at night 1/2 hour later, see if maybe he is just getting too much sleep at night. Two is waaaaay too young to be giving up the nap.

Seems like the sleep issues are ever evolving. Soon they will be teenagers and we will all be complaining because we can't get them up in the morning.

[Pithlet]

4. I will relish getting his butt out of bed

when he's a teenager on weekends or summer break. :evilgrin: I've been going through the morning thing for a long time. I miss the days when he was in a crib. He'd wake up early, but then amuse himself in his crib until I was ready to get up. Luckily he's been sleeping in a little bit later lately.

[wildeyed]

6. That's because he is up late at night

;)

[Pithlet]

8. Well, that is a trade off.

:)

[AwakeAtLast]

10. Hee! Hee! Mine started giving hers up at 18 months!

But you know what? She is a much better child if she *doesn't* have a nap! I know it sounds weird, but if she gets a full nights sleep, she is so much happier and much less irritible.

[cally]

11. My kids did this at times

I just refused any snack after they were in bed and also rewarded them if they stayed in bed. I sometimes sat outside their bedroom to make sure the only place they went was the bathroom. Mine just seemed to be wondering what we did after they went to bed. Good luck.