nightmare at bedtime

jackben

Hi, my 3 and a half year old used to be good to go to bed on His own between 8 and 9 and all of a sudden in the last few weeks he totally refuses to go to bed, roars and screams the hhouse down,, tried to lie down with him an i could be lying down for an hour an No sign of him goin asleep,, its like he hates goin asleep or hates bedtime,,
Dont no what else to Do. Have an 8 month old too and im beginning to hate night time because its stressing me out to a point where i feel like crying,,,, i No Bit over the top but its how im Feeling...😡😡

December2012

Could it have changed as your baby becomes more mobile? When babies can move then an older child can feel discommoded as the baby can now affect their space. This could be directed towards sleep instead of the baby.

Your son is possibly loving this attention from you.

Get a black out blind for his room as well and check the temperature of his bed and his room.

Also look at his bedtime story - get ones that focus on winding down and going to sleep - my kid loves the dr Seuss sleep book.

jackben

Thanks december2012,,.my 8 month old hasnt starter crawlin yet, but is moving around in a walker but thats it,,, i could Try black out blinds i guess,, ill Try anything at this stage....:)

How Strange

My son is about the same age and we've also had some problems with bedtime lately. Previously he was a dream for going to bed. Now I outline the bedtime routine to him in advance so he knows pjs on, toilet, wash, brush teeth, cbeebies bedtime story, song on YouTube, 2 stories. As you can see it's become very long winded but I think he likes the one on one attention as the 1 year old goes to bed before him.

When I'm bringing him to his room (they share so stories etc are done on the sofa) I tell him I don't want any messing or silliness and I'm going to put him into bed, give him a hug, tell him I love him and say goodnight.

30 mins start to finish but it's better than 2 hours of in and out to him. He knows the routine but every evening I tell him again in advance. If he starts messing I take away cbeebies story or the YouTube song and the next night the threat is enough to get him to behave. If he starts messing in bed then I tell him that I'll take x off of him tomorrow if he doesn't stop. And I follow through on it.

It might sound very strict but he gets lots of kisses and cuddles too. I think it's just part of their development to want to test the boundaries. Also with a young sibling who demands so much attention they may just want a bit for themselves and if negative behaviour gets your attention then they'll go with that.

jackben

Thanks how strange, Sounds like a great Routine, i Do Give him pre warnings about bed time, gets His time of Cartoons an story in bed ,, i warn him there will be No treats or days out if he doesnt go asleep etc,, kiss good nite etc an walk out of the room but he just gets up out onto Landing an screams an roars till His allowed back down stairs,, i Try it all again a few time sbut still gets up,, he just ends up goin to bed same time as us then with His dad having to go to bed with him to fall asleep,,

How Strange

There was a good Q&A about a six year old doing the same thing at bedtime in the parenting section of the Irish Times on 27th May and John McSharry gave his advice. I can't find it on my iPhone but look it up on their website. I find him very child centred and practical.