bed time problems

[JAK]

My dd who is 7.5 is having a REALLY hard time going to bed at night. She is constantly getting out of bed for one reason or another. I have grounded her and taken away t.v. time and other things and NOTHING seems to work! HELP!:banghead: :tearhair:

[RCT]

Hi Jen, I don't have any advice, but was wondering is something new going on with her? maybe at school? bad dreams....did this just start? just curious? I am sure you'll get better advice from people who have already conqured this.....my two are still young...LOL...6 and 4 and for some reason will stay in bed...LOL..

[KarlaB]

I was going to ask the same thing as Renee - has something happened recently that maybe is at the root of this? Has she heard a lot about the terrorist attacks or been concerned about it? Is she worried about your dh and his military link? Other than that - I am no help. :\ Hope you find some answers!! Good luck!

[AnnW]

We were having this problem with dd and we realized her bedtime was too early. Last year she went to her room at 7:30, read and then lights out at 8. We started that this year and it was just a disaster, she was our jack in the box! LOL We tried moving her to room at 8, read, lights out at 8:30 and it has worked like a charm! She is usually asleep within 10 minutes. Maybe try moving her bedtime back a little.

[JAK]

This is not a new thing that has just started, it is just an on and off thing. Somethimes there are no problems and then there are weeks were there are. She is always wanting or needing something after she has already been told to go to bed. She needs a drink, a hug, she forgot to tell me something, she forgot to ask me something, she can't sleep, you get the idea. I have moved her bedtime back to 8:30 (it used to be 8:00) and it still doesn't seem to help. She is a night owl and can stay up all night if you let her, but then she's tired and grumpy in the morning when she has to get up for school. She doesn't do any of this when my dh is home, but since he works nights he's not here when the kids go to bed. (He's worked nights since April so that is not a new thing either.) It just gets frustrating to keep telling her to go bed. Any other suggestions?

[AnnW]

What is different when your dh puts her to bed??

[Sasha Rowan]

It may be insecurity from her dad not being there. When I was a kid, my dad was Navy and was gone for 6 months at a time. I never felt as secure with him gone as I did when he was there. I felt I had to stay up and help guard the house, but I couldn't tell my Mom that, so I made up excuses to keep getting up. Plus Mom was easier to get by with stuff like that.

I notice a trend with my 5 yo ds in more awakings and excuses when dh is gone.

HTH

[JAK]

AnnW- Nothing is different. In fact when he is home, the routine is the same. I think she just doesn't want to disappoint him and get in trouble. In fact, she actually acts different when he is home-she truely is a daddy's girl.

Who knows, hopefully it will pass soon! Now that Suvivor is back on, she sure won't want to be grounded from watching tv! LOL