Many parents of toddlers have trouble with bedtime. Bedtime battles come and go throughout toddlerhood, and it can be the most trying time of day. By a certain time in the evening, you are ready for your toddler to go to bed – especially if he or she did not take a nap earlier in the day.
Dylan has been pretty good about bedtime for the last month or so. I start to set the stage for bedtime by having dinner on the table by seven each night – or as close to seven as possible. If Dylan did not take a nap on any given day, I changed him into his pajamas right after dinner and brushed his teeth. If he had napped, we would play quietly for an hour or watch a movie. At seven thirty (on no nap days) or eight thirty (if he had napped), we would go into the bedroom. Dylan could choose three books, and I would read them to him. After his books, I would cuddle him until he fell asleep and he was usually asleep within a few minutes of finishing the last book.
A couple of days ago, something changed. He started asking to go to the bedroom at six, as soon as we came in from playing outside. The first time he did that, he did look tired and I thought that he really wanted to go to bed. I tried to give him a quick snack, but he would not eat and just wanted to go to the bedroom. After three books, it was clear that he was nowhere near ready for bed and he said that he needed food. I quickly made dinner and we ate. Then, we went into the bedroom and I cuddled him until he fell asleep. I decided then and there that no matter how much he protested, I would feed him dinner before entertaining any request to go to the bedroom.
Last night, we went through two “fake outs” before he finally settled down and went to sleep at 9:30. Today was even worse. I had dinner ready by 6:30, so we went into the bedroom at 7, at Dylan’s request. He had taken a nap, so I tried to get him to play for a bit before heading to bed but he refused. Five books later, we were back in the kitchen for a snack. After the snack, he still was not tired. We put on a movie for some quiet snuggle time and I figured that he would dose off. Nope. He watched the whole thing – and then wanted another snack. After that snack, I finally cuddled him to sleep around ten thirty. I’ve got a case of the bedtime blues, so tomorrow I think that I will do some research and see what ideas I can find to help with that. Do you have any ideas?
Photo by manicmorff on morguefile.com.