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Bedtime battles

‘But Mum, I’m not tired,’ says your child, stifling a yawn. It’s much more interesting and exciting to stay up, so how do you get them to bed without a battle?

Routine
We all know that babies need a routine, but when it comes to bedtime, older kids respond well, too. After the evening meal, keep activities fairly low key - now is not the time for rough and tumble! Try to establish a regular pattern, perhaps bath, pyjamas, last snack or drink, brush teeth, then into bed for a story.

Timing

Can’t get them to stop what they’re doing? Look at it from their point of view: they’re in the middle of an interesting game A child sleeping when suddenly, big bad mum tells them to stop and put everything away because it’s bedtime. S’not fair, is it?

Warn them in advance. If bedtime is, say, 8pm, remind them an hour before. Then at 7.30 tell them they have 15 minutes playing time left before they have to start getting ready for bed. At 7.45, it’s time to get washed, teeth brushed and into their pyjamas. Remind them that the quicker they do this, the more time they’ll have before lights out. At 8pm, it’s into their bedrooms for a story or whatever.

Beat the clock
Make a game out of getting ready quickly. Set a kitchen timer for each task, say, five minutes for a wash, fifteen for a bath, one for getting into pyjamas and so on.

Keep them there
Make sure that once they’re in bed, there’s no reason to get up again:

- If they’re likely to want a drink of water, put one on the bedside table.

- Make sure they’ve been to the loo.

- Keep the bedroom at a comfortable temperature – if it’s too warm or too cold, they’ll find it difficult to settle.

- Make sure they’ve got their favourite teddy or scrap of blanket. And don’t worry – he’ll have given it up by the time he’s 30!

- If they’re afraid of the dark, leave the landing light on, or give them a nightlight.

- If he says there’s a monster under the bed, tell him that monsters only exist in stories.

- Don’t make a big deal of checking – you’ll reinforce the fear. Instead, get them to help you make up a story about a nice, kind, funny monster.

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Bedtime battles

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