Posts tagged '1-2-3 Magic: Bedtime'

Do you have a kiddo who is challenging at bedtime? Does he try to get timeouts at bedtime just to stay up later? Does she get out of bed and come downstairs for a glass of water, or another hug? Do they stay in their room, but yell for you or bang on the wall?

Why is it that kids don’t want to stay in bed? It turns out there are actually two main reasons that kids don’t want to stay in bed.

Watch this quick video from Dr. Phelan to learn what those two reasons are, and how you can cut them off at the pass, keep them in bed, and help them fall asleep faster.

This question is from Amel, and it has to do with her three-year-old.

Q: What do you do with a child who frequently wakes up in the middle of the night or early morning?

Amel writes, “My three-year-old wakes up too early: between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., even on weekends. He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. He sleeps through the night in his crib. He shares a room with his one-and-a-half-year-old brother. He wakes up and comes straight to our bed. We let him sleep with us maybe because he will actually sleep most of the time, but he tosses and turns. We have a routine that we are following each night where he puts on his PJs, turns the lights off in all the house, and then goes to bed. We hug, kiss, and say good night.”

So your five-year-old daughter appears at your bedside at 2:30 in the morning. When you ask her what's the matter, she looks sleepy and confused and she responds, "The elephant ran away!" Since you're not quite in your right mind either, you answer back, "Well, where did he go?" What do we have here? We have a crazy conversation in the middle of the night.

It's almost that time of year again. Believe it or not, your kids will be heading back to school in the near future. You can almost taste it! But making the transition from summer to fall means that you'd better think ahead. There are a lot of changes that must be managed. Here are five back to school tips to help you and your kids make the shift as easy as possible.

Bedtime. The calmest, most peaceful time of day. You tell your drowsy little munchkins that it's time for bed and they all yell, "Yay!" They run off to get into their pajamas, brush their teeth, and crawl into bed. You tuck all your kiddos in, kiss them goodnight, and head for the door. Their little eyelids are slowly closing. Now, it's time for you to relax!

It's not like this in your house? Actually, it's not like this in ANY house without some preparation, a plan, and some good old consistency.