I'm having a lot of difficulty getting my ds (3) and dd (4) to go to sleep at night. They find every reason possible to not sleep. Any ideas why? and what do you do to get your children to sleep?

I'm having a lot of difficulty getting my ds (3) and dd (4) to go to sleep at night. They find every reason possible to not sleep. Any ideas why? and what do you do to get your children to sleep?

Bed time can be an issue at times!

I have a 2 and 3 year old. We start about an hour before bed time with bath books and puzzles, quiet time, dim lights no tv or active play. DS2, 2yr old, goes down about 7 song and cuddle in bedroom then into bed. DS gets a book with me in bed then listens to his quiet music. I go in for more cuddles after dinner, then again after dishes (if he hasnt crashed already!) SOme days it is hard to get him to go to bed and thats when I can see that is over tired or overstimulated. I try to make it enjoyable and predictable for them it doesnt always go to plan but mostly we have a good routine that gets them to bed without the stress

I'm having a lot of difficulty getting my ds (3) and dd (4) to go to sleep at night. They find every reason possible to not sleep. Any ideas why? and what do you do to get your children to sleep?

We have a routine and bed time is not negotiable. We did have a phase of our eldest DD coming up with a range of excuses... I'm thirsty, I need to go to the toilet, my pillow is wrong, my blanket fell off ... etc etc" and the only thing that worked was basically saying "that's it, its bedtime, do not come out, do not call out, bed time is bed time". I found giving in with the getting a drink or going back into their bedrooms multiple times then it would continue the cycle. That was probably about a year ago now, maybe DD2 will have a crack at the excuses as well... but it wont do her any good smile I think the more you muck around the more they will muck around, ie if you keep going back into their rooms, or keep letting them come out of bed - well they are going to keep doing it... because they can. You have to be very firm.

Our kids go to bed at 7pm, the lead up starts at 6.45pm with teeth brushing, toilet, last drinks ha ha (my 3 year old still likes milk before bed) then its into bed, kisses and we close their doors. (lights are already off in the bedroom before they go in).

I think the time they go to bed is important, have found that if its any later then it takes them longer to go to sleep, if they are in their beds by 7pm then its all quiet and I dont hear a peep till 7.30am, sometimes even 8am.