HELP! Stalling at Bedtime!

Bruinsmama · 01-18-2006, 08:12 PM

This started at Christmastime & has goten worse. My son, Duncan, is 3 1/2 and just night trained (no more diapers at Bedtime, or nap either). Naptime is fine, BUT at the end of the day, when I am exhausted, it is taking me over 1 hour to get him settled & into bed! It used to take 20 minutes!

He wants 100 books, takes forvever to brush the teeth, has to go upstairs to

his daddy, and of course he is now sitting on the Potty FOREVER before he goes to bed!
Then he will even call me and say his music is too loud, or he wants this toy out of his room, or he sees a bug (it's January in New England, there ARE no bugs!).

I am getting really annoyed by this!
Who has some tips to

me out!? HELP!

Chris

Countrymama · 01-18-2006, 10:51 PM

Good question Chris!

Aly stalls also. she takes her time in the potty, has to give everyone at least one

, wants more to drink, etc. Then when I just give up and put her in bed she cries because she knows she isnt winning. This only works because she is still

ing in her crib. Yes I know she is 3 1/2 and should have been out of it a long time ago but she never tried to climb out and it was just easier leaving her in it. hoping to have a new toddler bed for her birthday. I try to just stick to her routine and hope for the best. limit the stories to just one or two. Sure hope some other moms will post some of their tips/tricks they have used.

~Sherri~ · 01-19-2006, 03:08 PM

Be stern...be consistent. Tell him he gets x amount of books each night, take him to give Daddy Kisses, take him to the potty and set a timer...give him 5 or 10 minutes...and then tell him when the timer goes off, it's bedtime. What he's doing is testing his limits, they ALL do it at one point or another, and you just have to set the limits for him and adhere to them.

Good to see you lady! I hope other than normal kiddo issues everything is going well!

Bruinsmama · 01-19-2006, 07:25 PM

Hi Marilyn & Sherri!
Tonight went better. I already tld him during the day that he took toolong last night "goofing off" at bedtime and it wasn't going to be tolerated.
I also told him the list of exactly what we were going to do:
Potty
Brush teeth
Books
Potty again if needed
Sit in the chair together (snuggles)
GO TO BED!

and also told him do NOT callme UNLESS you have to use the Potty.

It went very well, we did it in about 20 mins and he fell fast a

!

Let's see if we can keep this up!

Thanks so much for being here when I need to vent and ask for

. It means so much to me!
Chris i

Tracee · 01-19-2006, 08:31 PM

Way to go girl! I hope it works out!
My two like to pee around to it makes me mad. there bed time use to be 8 but with them in high school i let them stay up till 9 but most of the time its 9:30 or 10 before they get off to bed.

chickiepoo · 01-20-2006, 06:24 AM

Hi Chris...I like your plan. Steven loves to "push" his bedtime. I'm pretty lax anyway, but when I say go to bed, I mean it. He's usually pretty good about it. He just LOVES to talk. Yakkity, yakkity, yak.
Sometimes Spencer tells me NOT to send Steven to bed until he(Spencer) has fallen a

.

Steven will lay there and chat with whoever is near.

Duncan is such a cute little "bug" himself. Next time he "sees" a bug, get a mirror and ask if it looks like him. Oh, well, it would probably really stretch that bedtime.

Ellie

momofbpi · 01-21-2006, 10:40 AM

what I did with the triplets was theyhad pullups at night because they took a long time to be night trained but wasnt worried about that. they will have

s 1 hour after dinner then they have play time snack time a little more play or tv and then I start giving the 15 min warning then 10 then 5 then come and say its bed time you get 1 story so go potty now and well read then its lights out and time to go to

no funny stuff and it works.

for the other mom waiting on a todler bed my kids didnt have beds with frames till they went to kindergarten we just used the mattress on the floor the toddler beds are only good for a little while if you can afford a reg. bed its a money saver in the long run or put one on lay away and just use the mattress from the crib on the floor its kind of like a foutonits low to the floor this way if they fall out they dont h ave far to go.

Then you can put a reg. bed on layaway and get rails for it at the store to keep them from falling out. the toddler beds are nice but the kids get so tall they dont fit anymore. its cheaper to just use the mattress on the floor. my kids actually liked it it was like camping out. and if you need to get a gate that hooks into the wall and put it in the doorway so they cant get out and walk around without you knowing it.