Tweet
It may be a little too late for this, but this is my take on taking things, like her lovey, away. When I was little, I had a lovey that I slept with every night. I would have had trouble sleeping without it, so taking it away wouldn't help anything. Though I could see taking it away, saying something like, "When you are quiet/calm, and ready to go to sleep, you can have your lovey back."
-
-
The lovely thing is a good idea and I suggest something similar to parents.
A little girl had issue sleeping and I recommended the parents to a new pajamas (of her choice) a doll/lovely (of her choice again) like princesses, or even a new pillow case, something special.
Then they had a talk explaining how she is a big girl now and if she gets off bed, or does not stay quiet trying to sleep they will take all away (one by one).
It works very well with her she loves princesses. Her parents told me she was asleep within 30min and did not get off bed during the night since she was in love with her new stuffs.
You dcg might over tired and that could keep her awake, after a few nights of good sleep she should be able to get back to sleeping early! (we had a baby that only slept 8hours per night and no nap, after we sleep train her at daycare to nap, she would sleep 2 hours/nap and 10h/night as she should have at her age).Comment
-
I can't find the article now but I read one recently where the mom struggled getting her to kids to sleep at a decent time. I believe they were around 4-8 yes old. Well after trying multiple things, she decided to educate her kids on sleep. She taught them why we need it, why babies need the most sleep, children need a good amount and adults need the least. She would teach the kids random facts about sleep and they talked about all throughout the day.
It changed bedtime from being negative to a positive thing. It actually made her kids appreciate sleep and they stopped fighting it.
It was a great article. I wish I could find it.Comment
-
Guess I would handle this differently. I can't change what people do in their home, parents need to be parents and figure that part out for themselves. I have in my policies that excessively cranky or crying and the child will be sent home. You have a hard enough job without teaching parents what they should be doing.Comment
-
How did it go?Comment
-
update
Sorry for the delay in responding. I had to wait until nap time to get back to you guys.
I did go over all of the questions you fine ladies suggested....
So the meeting went very smooth. BUT it just sounds like the parents are not willing to hear her cry.
They said that they tried the tough love method and they could not handle hearing her cry. So instead mom and dad take turns sitting by the bedroom door and if she is not quiet they move away. then they go to the ignore stage.
I asked them is this working, they said NO. So I said are you open to letting her cry it out? After all she is 4 yr old, not 4mo old. they said no.
I told them that unless there was/is a consequence for what she is doing, she is never going to stop the night time games. When she enrolled last year, she played this game of I have to pee 3-4 times during nap time and if I didn't let her go she would wet her pants. I told her you can go before nap and after nap, not during nap, no more games and it stopped dead in its tracks. If she asked me to go pee during nap time, I took away her lovey and within 2-5 min she was out like a light. MS>N don't play that. She understood really quick that I would not play her game.
So I told the parents that since they were not willing to apply consequences and were playing the night time battle I could not help. so in this case since she is so tired and hardly making it through class time, I am going to do one of two things.
Lay her down after 2 melt downs even if its 9am and let her sleep
Or i will call for pick up
either way she is missing her pre-kinder class, which they are paying good money for. When she is here tired out of her mind she can't focus and she can't retain anything taught. Her being overly tired is one of the reasons why she still does not know most of her letters.......
They didn't like those ideas. I did recommend the book called sleepless in america for them to read, lets see how that goes.
I didn't tell them that if they don't fix this issue within the next 30 days, i am going to term. I didn't think I needed to tell them that, i am sure they could already see it.
according to what they are telling me this child is getting about 8-9 hours of sleep each 24hr period and she should be getting at least 10-12. That is a big difference........Comment
-
I had a feeling it was due to the parents' behavior over the child's physical sleep needs. They are really doing a disservice to their little girl and it will only get worse as she gets older.
I have friends that did the same thing with their children. They are now 11 and 8 and never want to get up in the mornings. It's still a daily struggle to get them to sleep before midnight and up early enough to get to school on time. The whole family is late for school, work, church, etc. all the time. They once thought I was horrible for enforcing my children's bedtimes. Now they wonder how my kids get up bright and early and ready for the day on their own.Comment
-
Sadly, I was like that too, as a parent. It's so much easier when it's someone else's child.
Reminds me of when I took my first-born to the pedi for a check-up and we were discussing some problems. The doctor spoke up and asked me 'what are you going to do when he's 16 and wants the car keys?' In other words, be the parent.
But I had to chuckle when I learned later down the road that this doctor's 1st child was a lil monster. And I'm thinking...ah ha, so much easier if it's someone else's isn't it??:confused:
Comment
Comment