Knights Becoming and a Lady in Waiting

Good Night, Sweet Princes: When They Just Won't Sleep

I was talking to my mom on the phone earlier and we drifted around to the kids (as always).

"Prince Berryboy [real names have been changed to protect the guilty] was up at 12:30 a.m. last night."

"What was he doing up at that time?"

"Cutting paper."

Don't get me wrong.  I am all for my son practicing his creativity and getting in some fine motor skill work at the same time... during normal working hours.  But, besides the fact that he's grounded from paper use for two days (please, don't get me started), it was, well, the next day.  While we're not an "early to bed, early to rise" famiily, we do, eventually, get up in the morning.

My mom interrupted my thoughts.

"I seem to remember another child who liked to get up after her parents went to bed and sneak around the house."

Ahem.  It wasn't sneaking.  I was just being polite and not waking up all those odd people who wanted to sleep through the best part of the day.  But... point taken.

"Yeah, well, I didn't yell at him.  I just asked him to put it away and go to bed."

Okay, genetics aside, there are some good tricks for getting your non-sleeping little princes (and occasionally the more amenable princess) to sleep at night.

1) Routine, routine, routine.

Let me say it again: routine.  Even if everything else is out of whack, a routine can save the evening a lot of the time.  I don't mean a little checklist that you follow down to the last second.  I mean that when you do certain things in a certain order, the kids know it's time to go to bed.

Our routine is a bit disrupted right now, but it still runs pretty close to this.  First, baths or getting ready for bed (nope, we just don't take baths every night during the winter).  Next, brushing teeth, using the bathroom, getting a last drink, choosing new stuffed animals to sleep with... all those fun things my kids love to do after the lights are out.  The big portion of bedtime is spent reading together.  We have read together every night since 1DS6 was born (with a few notable and not very happy exceptions).  It helps to calm the kids down and get them prepped for bedtime mode.  Finally, hugs and kisses, then prayers and tuck-in.  Again, it's not completely fail-proof (or fool-proof, in our case), but we can definitely tell when we don't do it.

2) Watch what goes in.  No drinks for the potty-trained ones after 7 p.m.  No caffeine, period.  No sugar after naptime.  Occasionally we make allowances for the first and third points, but only twice have our children had caffeine (that I am aware of).  It was not a pretty sight.

3)  Wear 'em out!  I have Dr. James Dobson's book The Strong-Willed Child to thank for this one.  [Note: commercial link]  If you have an energetic child and he (or she) doesn't get enough physical and mental exercise, they aren't going to sleep-- at least, not without a lot of fussin', fumin', and fightin'.  Not worth it.  A "school age" child needs a minimum of an hour of exercise each day.  I daresay their little brains need a minimum of one hour of mental exercise, too.  When they don't get it, they have excess energy to burn off.

DH and I remember to practice this a lot better when we're road-tripping across the country than when we're at home.  If we are taking the 28-hour trip to visit our families, we will drive for two-to-four hours at a stint, then stop at a rest stop, not a city, and let the kids run it out.  We'll do potty breaks and snacks, too, but it's the 15 minutes of active play that make it possible for us to get back in the car with minimal whining and drive for another extended stint without too much cajoling.  We do a longer break at lunch time and try to get in a quick walk when we stop for the night.  I'm not sure why I don't make sure we do this at home, but I suspect the joys of getting four kids under six into socks, shoes, jackets and hats may have something to do with it.

So, to recap, set yourself up for a good night's sleep with three simple little steps.  Have a routine,  control what goes into your child's body (and brain!), and get that energy out.  If you do all three, you should see pretty good results.  If you don't... I'll see you online a little after midnight.

Thanks for the tips!

11:27 PM, Mar. 15, 2006 .. Posted by jaminacema

I have a couple night owls who sneak around at night, so thanks for the tips. You make some very good points.

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11:52 PM, Mar. 15, 2006 .. Posted by chickadee

getting myself to stick to the routine is hard. we have one, i can easily get distracted since i'm a night owl myself. suddenly it's 10:30 and we haven't even begun the routine.

For a short time only...

8:24 AM, Mar. 16, 2006 .. Posted by DandelionSeeds

Thanks for stopping by... I just wanted to let you know that I've posted a comment about my children's names (that I'll be deleting but some of you wanted to know to better help you figure out a name so it will be there for a few days at least).

Thanks for helping!
In Him,
Amy

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1:48 AM, Mar. 17, 2006 .. Posted by OreoSouza

Good post. Obviously borne of experience. :)