making your child go to sleep

i have a 3 year old boy, and we have been battling getting him to go to sleep forever it seems. he WILL NOT lay down, it takes a process of time to make him stay in his bed, and its just getting out of control. any suggestions?

 

Weed brownies :X

i keed i keed

i hear a little bit of robotussin will do the trick if its that bad
Maybe you should make the little devil run a mile before bed

 

nice.... childrens benadryl.....ive thought about it.....

 

who hasn't?

warm bath, warm milk, bedtime story...a routine you stick to? i don't know. i'm at a loss with my own kids.

 

at least im not alone!

 

I feel for you.

I was never big on routine before kids.....but I think that's it: routine, routine, routine.
I don't think it's something you can force. But it can be eased into over weeks...especially with a....routine.

I always try to think from the kids' perspective. How would it feel to have someone try to force me to go to sleep, or to eat something...or whatever? Not good, and it might have the opposite effect.

Another option is to just let him stay up until he falls asleep. My mother says she did that with me because she was sick of trying. But, I think that just causes the child to be too tired the next day if they have to get up....which is never fun.

 

Ive got it
Whiskey!

it solves every problem

 

ugh. I have no advice on how to fix it. I am there with you
The best thing for my kid was go ahead ,give up, and give in. Every method of trying to force her to bed early was a nightmare for us both.
The best i have figured is making night time rules- :" its night time you can't play with noisy toys, you can't do certain busy things ,its late the lights have to be low." to coax her to be sleepy early-but i don't send her to bed/try to make her sleep, or lay down- i don't wake her up(unless I have to)-
I don't keep her awake if she is REALLY tired or grumpy,(her prob is naptime- I know if she doesn't nap she goes to bed fine- but skipping nap when she is tired ,equals evil child)
As long as she is playing quietly I let it be. We are still keeping odd hours and some nights I am up later than I like, or mornings she is not ready to get up- but she isn't grumpy and fussy evil child ,
so- fuck it.

 

When my daughter was about that age,I would have to take her on a car ride at bedtime,she would fall asleep in the car.Make sure they are in a real deep sleep,makes getting them in the house to bed alot easier.She got used to it so it was a nightly routine.Gawd those days sucked.But they flew by fast.Shes 18 now.Good luck and enjoy them while their young.

 

Routine is definelty a good idea, bath time is great before bed, but not jump in wash up get out... let him play in the water for a little while first. also at the age of three he has the capacity to understand thing better than we think they should, explain to him that things need to change and this is how they will be from now on, if you set a routine try your best to stick with it, even if it isn't on time still follow the pattern, thats what they get used to. If he is still getting in and out of bed, I suggest punishment as the next step... my mom would make us sit on the wall (back against the wall knees bent, hands had to be at our sides with palms flat against the wall) it hurts but you think about it twice the next night when mom says its time for bed. That may sound harsh but I have found it works.

 

GL... what is your current bedtime routine with him? What does he do when he gets up? What do you do after he gets up?

 

that would be helpful information really, see more of where the problem might lie.

 

i know routine is probably the best thing i need to make more of, but theres so much that makes that hard to do.

 

are you seriously suggesting that for forcing a a 3 yr old that isn't tired to sleep??

 

yeah, i wouldnt do that, i give him time outs, make him stay in one place, untill he says sorry, understands what he did wrong, "say sorry" "what are you sorry for?" "are you sorry for throwing the toy?"

 

its not forcing him to sleep it is enforcing that he needs to stay in his bed, he will never fall asleep if he is getting up and down, no matter how tired he is. and its not like i said beat him.

 

Oh THAT sounds like a super fun power struggle. ...and it does sound abusive- for a three yr old.
Can't say I can see trying to force my child into
submission like that- or wanting to.

 

there should be no power struggle at all, the parent is the parent the child is the child.

 

Thats just fuken mean.

 

Hes 3.