Bedtime Battles

For the last 6-8 months, we have been having trouble getting Preston to go to bed at night. We've tried putting him back in his crib, putting a gate across the door so he can't leave the room, the Supernanny method (just pick him up and put him back in bed each time he leaves without talking to him about it), reasoning with him, bribing him, letting him watch a show in bed, sitting next to his bed for an hour or more waiting for him to go to sleep, giving up and letting him come out and lay down on the couch with us... all kinds of things. We have the nightly routine to get into the mindset of bedtime, and that part of the night goes just fine. But as soon as the story is over, he bounces right back out of bed and then screams and screams when we make him stay there. I'm so frustrated by it!

On Wednesday, I saw an advertisement for the show "The Doctors" where they said they were going to tell us how to end the bedtime battles and get your kids to go to bed. I was so excited - I was trying to figure out how I could manage to see it, since it comes on while I'm at work. We are behind the curve with no TiVO at our house yet. We have 2 VCRs, yet neither of them works to record anything. As it turned out, though, Aaron stayed home sick yesterday. So he was given the assignment to watch the show and learn the secret for me. Turns out it was about a 1 minute segment where all they said was to have a routine and a consistent bedtime and waking time. We know that much! So much for the miracle cure I was hoping for.

So... if you have any great tips for getting a 2-year-old to go to bed and stay in bed, I'd love to hear them!! Post a comment or e-mail me at taradon@hotmail.com. Anyone who can give us an idea that helps will earn our undying gratitude!