How do you get your kids to go to bed without a fight every night?

When my kids were young I used to give them time until bedtime anouncements. Saying 'half hour until you have to get ready for bed, think about ending what you are doing" or "half an hour until you have to pick up toys and change into jammies" Then I would give the same anouncement only saying 15 minutes, ten minutes, then five. It took a bit for them to get into the routine of that but they did, and knowing not only what the routine was but how long until they had to be in bed seemed to be important to them. Warning, he will try you on this.

Oh my bedtime issues... yep we've all been there. And to let you know from my end and being a mother of 5 all my kids handled bedtime differntly. You just have to try different things.This is just another form of showing that they have different personalities. My hardest one was my only son (child 5). Comes to find out he just didn't like his bed. Try to figure out why? and that will make finding the solution so much better. Are you a night owl? With my oldest I found that she still heard me stirring around so she wanted to see what was going on. Sweety, I wish I knew the right answer, but like I said it varies with every child, you just gotta toss around different ideas to see what works. Is the light off? Is it totally quiet in the room? try a night light or play music, with #2 & #3 I put a small tv in the room and that helped them stay put, and within a week they'd be sleep within 15 min. Let me know what you figure out.

Here's something I do with my son, maybe it will help you. I give my son a few minutes after cleaning up to watch one of his favorite cartoons and tell him that after the show he's going to sleep. Sometimes when he's bed he would ask me to read a story with him and even before I finish the story his eyes are already closed. He's only 2 years old by the way.

I had this problem with my boys. They shared a room and so when one started, so did the other one. It drove me nuts! I tried everything, and then a friend suggested giving them a drink and reading to them. Apparently, it's comforting to them. I decided to try it and so I gave them both a sippy cup of milk so they didn't spill everywhere, and they laid down and I read them a story. It worked to my great surprise so I continued doing it. More often than not, they were asleep by the time I'd finished a chapter lol. Eventually it got to the point where I took them to bed and they told me they didn't need a bedtime story anymore because they were "big boys now" and go straight to sleep. It certainly made life hard, but it will get better. just be aware that kids will try it on to see how far they can push you. They're bloody good at that lol. Good luck!

Well,most children has problems in go to bed.My son is 5 and a half yrs old,one yr before,i have difficult to let him go to bed too.But now everything is ok now.Why does your son do not like to sleep? Is he afraid of dark?or afraid of leaving himself alone?or he thinks he want to play for a longer time? I suggest you do this:after his washing and go to bed,turn off the light,tell him some stories in a low voice,he will go to sleep quietly. My son likes this very much,and he can have a sound sleep untill the morning.

i would always use some sleepy time tea with my neice. she loved it mixed with milk after a good bath. she'd fall right to sleep atleast long enough for to actually get some sleep myself. i have 7 neices and nephews and they all make a lot of noise before they go to sleep. sleepy time tea

well i did not like going to bed all that much as a child so my mum used to literally sing me to sleep so u can try that method and see if it works! http://www.wellnessgoods.com/singingchildren.asp http://www.becomingtheparent.com/subsections2/toc5.html

I am a grandma, but will stretch my brain, and try to remember. I do not recall ever having this problem, but my daughter will say I have selective memory. What we did was have a routine, a warm bath, a set bedtime, even on weekends. I would go to the kids rooms and sit in a big old rocker, they could ask me to sing their favorite songs. We read a story or two. They had hugs and kisses before they went up from every adult in the house. There beds were low to the floor, and they had a drink beside their bed. We bought special bedding of their choice for the beds. I tried to remember how I felt about things when I was their age, and to avoid whatever had bothered me. Because of an accident in our neighborhood at bedtime, I was always scared. My parents let me keep a special lamp on, until they went to bed. They would check on me and turn it off. I liked the post about reading with the child, and the one about warnings. It takes a week or so of consistency for them to understand that this is the rule. If you give in once in awhile you make it ten times harder because random reinforcement is more powerful than consistent reinforcement.

Well unfortunately there is no cure for this that I know of but he does have to learn that bedrime means exactly that as he must go to sleep at the right time every night especially while he is so young. He is just doing this to get a reaction from you and so just keep on doing the same thing and eventually it will stop. We had to do this to our children when they were young I can still remember.

My daughter is 10 but for quite a while now I've been following this routine- About 30 mintues prior to bedtime I will tell her it's almost time to go up- At bed time I'll go up with her- and read a book (after her teeth are brushed- face washed, etc.) when we are done she has 30 minutes to read on her own and get calm before bed. This has worked for years- She actually tells me alot of times- Mom its almost bed time- LOL Try to find a routine and stick with it!

Here is an idea , not sure if it will help but it does with my three year old . She loves to be read to and if she agrees not to whine when it is time to go to bed then I will read her a book of her choice . I get her and her little sister ready for bed , and then they go to brush their teeth and then I go tuck them in bed and then get in beside them and will read them a story . When the book is done I retuck them in and give them each a kiss and tell them to have good dreams and then quietly leave the room closing the door behind me . I find this helps in our household . Best of luck !!

My daughter is 3 and it was always easy putting her to sleep. Then about ago she just would not go to sleep, she will get up and play. I'll go in there and put her back in her bed, but nothing she will get right back up. So my fiance called while I was putting her to sleep and he heard her crying. So he told me to put her on the phone, and the next thing I knew she layed down and went to sleep. She always listens to him, and I don't know what to do. He left to go to GA for training and thats when she started to act up when she has to bed. She misses him so much, and our youngest is starting to act up too.

it is quite normal for a kid to be naughty when he is at that age. i think mothers and fathers have to accept their naughty or innocent behaviors.since they are not quite aware of what their behaviors mean. simply i mean the kids here. kids are kids. they are still vvery small and maybe i should they are too young to know what is going on with their world. who knows what the kids would turn out to be when he or she grows up. good luck. mothers adn fathers.

I'm sorry I have no suggestions for you. In fact, I have similar problems with my almost-three-year-old. He just hates going to bed. It takes me an hour at the minimum most nights to get him settled, to get him to stay in his bed. I'm hoping someone has some suggestions for you that might work for myself and my son also! Good luck. :o)

We have had a devil of a time with my niece. She has always had a problem with sleeping and even now as a teenager the doctor has her on something to help because of it. When she was little it was really rough because she just wouldn't sleep. If she'd settle down for 10 minutes she would but getting her to was almost impossible. She's just keep moving in bed. We had to set up a routine and it would at least work but we had to start it about an hour before we wanted her to acutally be asleep. She had her quiet time, which consisted of watching a movie or show while laying in bed. The lights would be off, the volume on the tv almost a whisper so it was barely audible and she's have to lay there watching her movie till it went off. We usually did movies because they would be ones she knew really well and would drift off easier to and we could set it up so that the tv and such went off on it's own. That worked but again we were putting in for her quiet time an hour or two before we wanted her to be asleep by. If we tried the just go to bed we'd be up for hours dealing with her and trying to get her to sleep.

when my kids were young, i always told them "its bedtime" and made no other choice be available. I didn't ever ask them if they were ready for bed? or do you want to go to bed now?, it was just a matter of fact statement. that way they could not answer, they simply just knew that is was bedtime. I never went back on my word, letting them "watch one more show", or let them stay up "just a little longer",, because then they had the power of when it was time for bed! I watch some of my friends with thier kids, and they actually ask them things like that? how can a 5 year old know whats best for them-if that were the case, they would not need parents. too many choices, make too many problems for moms and dads. just statements is all they should hear from us. Let them pick out their favorite ice cream, or special thing they want to wear that day or something fun., but parenting is for them, not for YOU! have fun, and good luck!!

I dont know about every child but for my husband and I we have three kids that all demand to be seen so we went out and bought a king size bed. Every night around eight we have cuddle time in our bed we put on a movie the kids like and when the movie is over its bedtime for a while they cryed when it was over,but if they dont go to bed without a fight no cuddle time the next night when they saw that we would not give in,they went to bed without a fight just so they did'nt have to miss cuddle time.

I dont know about every child but for my husband and I we have three kids that all demand to be seen so we went out and bought a king size bed. Every night around eight we have cuddle time in our bed we put on a movie the kids like and when the movie is over its bedtime for a while they cryed when it was over,but if they dont go to bed without a fight no cuddle time the next night when they saw that we would not give in,they went to bed without a fight just so they did'nt have to miss cuddle time.