- needing a poo - Twice I took him to the toilet and both times he sat on it for a mere second, if that and then announced ''finished''. Haven't fallen for that one again!
- ''drink'' - this is a regular. He will often suddenly yell drink right at the end of his bedtime routine. Now being prepared for this, I make sure I have a cup with some water in near by just in case and I do offer it to him one time but just one time. Any more then that and I know he's just delaying rather then actually being thirsty.
- tidy up - sometimes now, when he goes to his bookshelf to choose which book to read before bed, he'll purposely pull out a few and will then say that he has to ''tidy up'' the books before getting in to bed. Saw through that lie pretty quickly!
- Kisses - this is tonights new one. Usually, once he's lying in bed, I'll sing him a song and then give him a kiss. Tonight he decided that one kiss just wasn't going to be enough and so he wanted many kisses. I got as far as 4 and then told him that's enough. Tomorrow he'll have to put up with just the one.
For those of you who are going through similar experiences right now or those who have this all ahead of them, here's a few tips from parenting websites to have a read of. Any of you who have some tips of your own you can give, feel free to share in the 'comments' section below.
6 Tips to Get Your Toddler to Bed Fast - Parenting HQ
How to Halt Bedtime Delay Tactics - Parentdish
I love to read your comments so please feel free to let me know what you think...
Mine insists on kissing my nose, eyes, and ears, and complaining, "Poppy, you didn't shave today!" before lights out. I'm normally a stickler for obedience, but I rather enjoy the bedtime intimacy.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, toddlers are tricky little buggers.
your ''tricky little buggers'' comment made me chuckle! Yes, indeed they are. Milo has never tried kissing my ears before! That would be a new one!
ReplyDeleteMy little brother used to pick the longest possible book for his bedtime story. Toddlers aren't stupid! (My brother is 5 now, so not really a toddler any more).
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got him all figured out already. He has no chance!
ReplyDeleteMy 3-year old has bad dreams even BEFORE he actually has fallen asleep :| What we do now is talk him through the bed time routine several times a day i.e. after the bath we'll read books and then I tell you a story and sing a few songs and then it's sleep time... He argues and negotiates to no end during the day, but has started to fall asleep faster once it's bed time.
ReplyDeletebevchen - 5 is maybe not toddler age any more but still a good age for refusing to go to bed!!! ha ha
ReplyDeleteLee - I'd like to think so but he certainly manages to run rings around me some days!
MrsB - Blimey, I'm not sure I have the patience for all that but hey I guess it's better then a very longwinded bedtime!