All parents face bedtime battles with their kids - some you win, some you lose. What bedtime battles do you face that can prevent you from focusing on special bedtime moments with your kids?
Join me for a live chat tonight at 9:00 PM ET (6:00 PM PST) to discuss your bedtime battles.
- Do your kids have trouble with bedwetting? How do you help manage this and turn the battle into a dry-bed victory?
- Do they want you to sleep with them all night?
- Do they get nightmares?
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Comments: 171
Do your kids have trouble with bedwetting? Luckily no my kids were never bed wetters
Do they want you to sleep with them all night? I can remember my kids crawling into bed with me from a nightmare or for my daughter she couldn't sleep, but I would always take them back to their bed during the night...
Do they get nightmares? I think everyone has nightmares.. For children it is more scarey for they don't understand what is real and what is not. Whenever my child had a nightmare I would turn on the light, calm them down and soothe them back to sleep. Funny how we always remember the nightmares!
I hope you enjoy your trip!
Enjoy your chat! ...if the subject evolves into a discussion on power tools though, let me know!
Thanks for the Tweet!
Do your kids have trouble with bedwetting?
My middle son (who is now 8) has been struggling with this for years and years and it's really sad. I feel awful for him because he's embarrassed by it and he's unable to stay with friends at night or have friends over. Lately he had been doing much better and we thought we were entirely done with pull-ups but then suddenly, he started having accidents. At first we thought it was because we allowed him to have a soda at a restaurant for dinner but then it happened again after having dinner at home. I've taken him to the doctor but she just referred him to a counselor. Ugh!
Does anyone have any suggestions?
We haven't been able to manage this, but sure hope he grows out of it! It always seems like it's up to him, like it's on HIS schedule - you know? Nothing we've tried has made any difference... he's just a VERY deep sleeper!
I've been pretty lucky with my older kids about this, they don't seem to need me to sleep with them which is great for me. My youngest son (almost 3) is a different story... he always asks me to sleep with him or he comes in to our bed in the middle of the night. I don't mind though because we have a King size bed and there's enough room. My husband always tries to tell him to sleep in his own bed, but he's all talk. Of course he's not going to get up to actually PUT him in his own bed! LOL
YES, all of my kids have had nightmares and it seems like they're more often than other kids. My oldest son (who is 12) went through a long period of night terrors and boy was that interesting! He used to sleepwalk all the time too, but as he's gotten older it hasn't happened as often. One time he tried to walk out our front door! Luckily I was still up and caught him doing it.
My middle son still has night terrors and nothing we do helps him. The ONLY thing that works is to just let him get through it on his own.
My youngest son has night terrors sometimes, where he's just completely out of it, and it is really weird.
I love to share and learn.
Thank you!
One thing that has helped our granddaughters get to sleep when they've stayed with us is spraying their bedding with lavender linen spray. Even the baby went to sleep quickly with that soothing aroma. You can make it yourself by putting a few drops of lavender essential oil into a spritz bottle of water.
Actually I was the one with weak kidneys and still am. Cannot drink at night. run water, even flush a toilet at night or I am up all night.
Many of us take for granted that our yound ones are not very aware of the real world.
The fact is they are and more than we know.
Kids sense problems.
Today's economy may not be a topic that children talk about, but they know that things in the home (there are many homes with economic troubles) may not be right.
Give our little loved ones credit.
And give them a smile.
A kiss or two is even better.
Show them that you are all a family.
Let them know that all is OK.
Adults are told to not take their problems to bed.
The same holds true for kids.
Sometimes my 8 year old will lay on the couch and say he is tired then fall asleep. My 4 year old does that too (really late). But they won't go to their own beds.
Bedtimes are constantly evolving in our house - we have a 7 year old son and a 2 year old daughter. They'd been sharing a room, but a week from today our son's new bed will be delivered & he'll have a room of his own. I imagine that will change up our challenges!
I will pass this along for my nephew.
Sometimes he is suddenly starving (we don't eat after a certain time and there are rare exceptions like vacations or a late night because of something important), needs a drink (I give him enough time to get ready for everything) or is missing an animal (once again, he had time to find these things). I don't give and let him get away with staying up late to get these things done since he didn't use the time he was given appropriately but then the world ends. He is screaming (I'm afraid of the cops being called) and crying for help.
He does this almost every night and I'm not sure what exactly sets it off or how to make it stop. I don't know what kind of punishment is appropriate beyond losing whatever he lost from not getting ready. There are rules, they are set and they know this but they push anyway even though it's NEVER gotten them anywhere!
How do you help manage this and turn the battle into a dry-bed victory? We will use pull ups for a while
Do they want you to sleep with them all night? not my 16 yr old the baby is still pretty good.
Do they get nightmares? Yes, both boys do.
They see things on TV.
They hear their parents talk.
Their little friends talk.
It just puts more on their minds.
You know what your child likes and likes to hear.
Use that to their and your advantage at night.
A favorite book?
If your child or children are having trouble sleeping, then read a favorite book until they are tired, better, or dreaming the rest of the night away.
A song might work.
Perhaps a talk.
Kids listen.
They also trust you.
Listen to them because they listen to you.
I learned my lesson after him and let the other 5 train completely on their own time table. They each trained at different ages, but they each trained easily and within a couple days with few accidents.
We never have had bedwetting issues, but used Goodnites when they weren't totally potty-trained at night yet.
My son has always needed more sleep than my daughter. Angela is up early, no matter when she goes to bed. It takes a band to wake up Christopher in the morning, no matter how early he goes to bed. It's always been this way with him.
A lot of rain here in New Hampshire and in much of the country.
Kids have not been out as much.
This can take a toll.
A bedtime routine may add to their being bored or restless.
Try a few different things.
Give them a snack (no sugar) or maybe have a friend or friends spend the night.
Kids can make their own world better.
Let them stay up a little later on a Friday night.
A movie or a game can work.
Let them have some fun on these rainy days and nights.
Not anymore. Thankfully we are past that.
Sometimes. My dd is an active sleeper though so co-sleeping doesn't work out real well as you are dodging arms and legs all night. LOL
Not really. Usually it is the opposite. DD will have wacky dreams and we laugh about her zainy dream adventures.
YES, YES, YES! My 4 year old and my 1 year old sleep with us. I'm ready to move the 4 year old OUT but she is more stubborn than anyone I've ever met (and we are all pretty stubborn!)
Then, there's the issue of alone time. I NEVER get alone time. Not awake and not asleep. I'm lucky if I can take a shower by myself. And alone time with Jason is almost totally non-existent (we might get 15 minutes every two weeks but we have to take it by force!). How's that for lacking intimacy?!
I do try to enjoy it as much as possible because I know there will be a time when they won't be my little babies anymore and won't want anything to do with me but sometimes I just wish that it was an invite-only kind of deal. That their beds were where they would sleep, but they could come in if they had a bad dream (my kids don't really have those) or just wake up in the middle of the night, or if I ask them over for a sleepover!
My daughter has always slept by herself. We didn't want to have to work on getting her out of the bed, so we never let her in the bed!
We bought a king size bed after Stephy was born, queen wasn't big enough for all four of us to watch tv together!