Battle Time: You vs Bedtime Issues

Who will win? Of course, you!

I decided to have my first official post on Bedtime Troubles. Since I was just going through it an hour ago the experience is still fresh.

Its 8:00 pm and you have started the routine. Bath, teeth, story/songs, and finally bed then the battle begins (the questions, the potty breaks, and the crying. Oh, the crying). There is nothing worse then a very tired parent from a long day at work and a crying child fighting bedtime.

Be Strong! Be Strong! You can do it.

This article gives helpful tips on things to do.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_bedtime-battles-how-to-nip-them-in-the-bud_65497.bc

My Bedtime Troubles were harder when she was 1 year old. I would rock her and when I finally laid her down she would start crying. It is tough when they are infants because reasoning is pointless.

So, what did I do? After crying in the bathroom, I pulled myself together and told myself I have to be strong. Patience is the key and set a goal (ex: I will wait 10 minutes of her crying before I go in).

Babies and small children have a sense for you leaving the room. So, I set a time limit for bed time. Everyone is different so following my time line might not work for you. It took 3 weeks for our battle to simmer down. I decided to start off with an hour and make my way down.

First, I had to get her comfortable falling asleep in the crib and not in my arms. No more rocking for her. I did the gently patting her chest and once I stopped she would cry. I tried running my fingers through her hair which worked for her. My goal was to put her down in her crib and she would fall asleep on her own.

Then I would lessen the time I would running my fingers through her hair and just take a few steps back. For example, I would do the hair bit for 10 minutes then take a few steps and wait 10 minutes of her crying then do it again then step back. Each time would get less and less and each day the bed time routine would get shorter.

Now the hard part, self soothing which is the reason why it took me 3 weeks to beat the battle. Self-soothing during bedtime is when your baby can calm themselves down and fall asleep after they wake up in the middle of the night. Our first night of self-soothing I sat outside her door for 10 minutes and I was learning self-soothing too. But always remember each night gets better even if you feel like they were crying for 30 minutes.

Routine and following through is very important. I know they are babies but they know that if they cry to 10 minutes that you will come in if  you don't follow through. Yes, you should set a limit on crying time too. If my daughter would cry for an hour straight (which didn't happen often) I would go in but I did not pick her up.

Eventually, it will get easier and they will be sleeping through the night before you know it.

Here is an article on Self-Soothing.
http://www.baby-sleep-advice.com/self-soothing.html

Good Luck and Sleep Tight!

Hello World! You can call me MeL.

Welcome to the Rocking Parents Society Blog.

I am Melissa but please call me Mel. If you read my "About Me" column you might know just the "super fast because I have to catch my kid climbing on the dinner table" explanation on what this blog is about. It's very simple besides posting helpful information on Parenting or Early Child Development (let's call it ECD) I will try my very best to answer any questions that have been bugging you but have no time to research it.

So, how do you get the question to me?
Very easy, just email it to me.

askmsmelissa@gmail.com

If this blog is a hit and I hope it is I will try my best to answer everyone as fast as possible. I am a mother too and she is 3 years old I might add. You know 3s and if you don't, you will. 



Now, what do you need help with?

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