Overcoming sleep difficulties with young children - one mom shares her secrets
By Jodi Nelson, Minnesota Mom of 2
Getting my 4 1/2-year old daughter to sleep has been, well, a nightmare. After reading countless books on sleep, visiting a sleep specialist and tearing my hair out for four years, I finally resorted to my own agenda and approach.
We don’t give my daughter candy very often and one day, she was begging for a roll of “Smarties.” I said fine, you can have two now and if you go to sleep right away, with no crying and no getting out of bed, you can have the rest right away in the morning.
She said OK and went right to bed (for the entire night!) and was proud to get the rest of her Smarties in the morning. We continued with various rewards the rest of the week and by the weekend, we were on track. (I try to use stickers, pencils and other novelty, non-candy items as much as possible)
The second week, I started spreading out the rewards every other day, then every couple of days, etc. Eventually, the sleep struggles were under control!
We definitely have had relapses, but when we resort back to the plan for a few days, the bedtime challenge is a non-issue.
The key to the strategy for me is to give special rewards — i.e., things that my daughter doesn’t usually get, so they are very special. If you give in and give them something, it will backfire immediately. These kids are too smart, if they figure out they will get the prize anyway, they won’t bother doing what you ask.
I have used this same technique for other things that I have wanted my daughter to succeed at. Sometimes it works right away and other times it takes a little bit, but in the end, it has worked every time.
I hope this strategy works for others!
P.S.: Don’t forget to put the reward next to your child’s bed or in a special designated spot once they are asleep. If they wake up after doing what you ask and it is not there, they are not as receptive to trying it again the next night. Good luck!
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