Comments on: Lock Down

By: Iron

Iron — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:19:19 +0000

April: I had the same knee jerk response (corporal punishment for the win) but obviously there is more to it than that–I’m the opposite case–I was up at 6:30 every morning as a child, even when my mother kept me up late intentionally (as she was a night owl) in a vain attempt to get me to sleep in. Sometimes sleep cycles are just biological functions, and we have to learn to deal with them.

But if we’d destroyed things as children, after we’d been told not to–that is when the beatings would have happened.

As to helping them drop off though–it sounds like naps are certainly out, and Nash is right–I have an insomniac girlfriend who associates beds with sex–getting her to sleep after a session is a test of my patience every time, and she’s an adult. She just wakes up and is ready to fuck once she’s in bed, and when she’s done fucking, she’s ready to talk.

Mister precedent’s glowing-stars-on-the-ceiling-idea is brilliant, having them count them especially.

Is this the first time they’ve been left unsupervised for a truly extended period? It could just be the novelty of freedom, in which case you might just need to give them time–and make sure no matter how late they stay up, they’re up and moving when you want them to be. Eventually, they’ll start to value sleep on their own.

By: lacedback

lacedback — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:13:15 +0000

What sort of consequences do their behavior have right now? It doesn’t matter if you’re a time-out, no privileges, or a spanking sort of parent—but there needs to be a consequence if you expect the actions to stop. “Hey, stop that! Mommy said no!” is not a sufficient consequence.

By: Phredd

Phredd — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:29:37 +0000

That’s some mighty fine Pronking it that there video.

If your “yoots” can Pronk like that I think you need to call the Bolshoi ASAP!

By: whatthechuck

whatthechuck — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:38 +0000

I’ve always gone against the ‘elaborate routine before bedtime’ schtick– because then if you need them to sleep, you HAVE to do an elaborate routine.

How many in one room for beddy-bye?

XOXO

Chuck

By: ms.inconspicuous

ms.inconspicuous — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:46:27 +0000

Hmm… my sister-in-law tried for a very long time to get my niece to sleep in her bed, in her room. Eventually she gave up the good fight and let her sleep on her Care Bear couch in the living room.

For some reason, playing in HER room during the day signaled to my niece’s brain that whenever she went in there it was playtime. Maybe keep them out of their room save for bedtime?

By: aag

aag — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:53:33 +0000

Did anyone watch the pronking video?

If you didn’t, and you’ve never seen pronking before, you’re missing out.

:)

By: Randi

Randi — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:38:04 +0000

First of all, you may not need to get rid of naps – depends on your kiddos. The old “supernanny” tricks work well, and then again, threatening works well also. When my son starts acting up (or my daughter, but usually its my son) at night time, he gets told that he’ll lose priveledges the next day, such as the wii or whatever.

By: AlwaysCurious

AlwaysCurious — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:29:07 +0000

Bridget–

It worked on my dog (teaching him down/stay), why not kids? lol I like it!

By: bittersweet

bittersweet — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:45:41 +0000

oh dear.

If mine are restless i let them read a book, but if yours eat pictures … yikes.

I am *so* lucky that my littlest still needs a nap – what would i do without those couple of hours in the middle of the day???!

By: gusher

gusher — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:34:30 +0000

I totally agree with the “wind-down relaxing bedtime routine of baths, storytime, maybe leave the bathroom light on for them for 30 min.”… but you could always try bribery too. a small piece of candy in the morning if they go to bed and don’t get up?? Small meaning, 1 Life Saver or 1 Hershey Kiss. Candy can works wonders for little ones!! =) LOL Good luck!