Ahhh.... it's so peaceful and bliss when they finally go to sleep isn't it? We all know that sleep is a constant battle between M and I and the Lil' Tiger. Ever since she was a baby, it's hard to get the Lil' Tiger to settle down but as she grows older, it gets a little easier.
Since moving on to her bed, we have nothing to stop her from climbing down her bed and walking down the hall way. Some days it's easy. All we have to say is "It's night night time. Go to bed" and she willingly go after kissing everyone good night. Then there are times when she insist on NOT going to sleep. This is where we use the Re-Return method
I got the idea of the Re-Return method on a TV show called House of Tiny Tearaways while I was pregnant with the Lil' Tiger. I knew one day it would come in handy. What the parents would do with this method is returning the child back to her bed over and over again until the child gets the hint that "YES, it is time for bed. No questions asked".
The major tip for this method is to not engage with the child when they climb out of bed. NO arguments, NO threats, NO emotions. Just walk the child back to bed and being as boring as possible. Now you have to be presistant though. Like me, I have Re-Returned the Lil' Tiger to bed 20 times once. Yes you read that right 20 FREAKING TIMES the first week we used this method! Took me over an hour and a half to get her into bed that time but finally she got the hint that I am not playing games with her and that I am serious in getting her to bed. To be honest, I went to bed after that too!
Sometimes she will cry, yell, scream and kick (usually when M tries to put her to bed) because she doesn't want to go to bed. She will cry and cry and cry and cry and cry for what seems like forever (but in acutal fact 10 minutes) and when she realised that neither M nor I would come and get her she falls asleep on her own. And this is on a good day!
On a really frustrating day, like that re-return for 20 times, she would sneak out of her room and sit in the hall way out of my sight and just sit there. Sometimes singing, sometimes laughing and sometimes taunting Pixel the dog. This is when I get frustrated because I know she is playing games with me, so I usually give her 3 warnings before I close the door to her room. She doesn't really like it when I close the door so after that one time of closing the door to her room, she gets the hint and goes to bed.
This method is really effective for us. The Lil' Tiger now knows that mommy or daddy will not lie with her in bed until she falls alseep OR bed time means bed time and she needs to go to sleep. Like everything else, there are good days and they are bad days. Right now, M and I are focusing more on the good days giving her praise and cuddles when she wakes up in the morning for listening to us during bed time.
What are your bed time routines? Do you use the Re-Return method as well? I would love to hear your thoughts.
