How to deal with kids late at night in holidays

sueeve

You say 'I sometimes ignore him'. Why sometimes? You are letting him test you out, and sometimes he wins, which is no good. Consistent, firm, with clear consequences that he won't like. A black out blind is an excellent idea.

mutley74

liney wrote: »

Quite simply, yes you do.

Bed time is bed time. My son is not allowed out of his bedroom unless it's to the loo, and he's not allowed the light on.

I suggest this approach. 'Son I have decided your bedtime is 8.30pm - mess me about tonight (which means being out of bed after 8.30pm time bar toilet time) and tomorrow it will be 8pm ' and follow it through! 'Because you chose to ignore me last night your bed time is 8pm tonight. Carry on messing me about at it will be 7.30pm tomorrow'

Do not get cross. Warn him and follow through! I bet you don't get to 7pm bedtime

Out of interest how old is your son?

mutley74

sueeve wrote: »

You say 'I sometimes ignore him'. Why sometimes? You are letting him test you out, and sometimes he wins, which is no good. Consistent, firm, with clear consequences that he won't like. A black out blind is an excellent idea.

i am a single dad, so i find it hard internally to keep telling him off, makes me feel bad. I do feel for my son a lot he has not seen his maternal family for a while. Hence, i feel he needs my love and support more than ever. But at night i notice he likes to be jovial and laughter, so how does a parent tell of a child who is laughing and smilimg!?!:think:

cheepskate_2

mutley74 wrote: »

i am a single dad, so i find it hard internally to keep telling him off, makes me feel bad. I do feel for my son a lot he has not seen his maternal family for a while. Hence, i feel he needs my love and support more than ever. But at night i notice he likes to be jovial and laughter, so how does a parent tell of a child who is laughing and smilimg!?!:think:

LOL, this really made me laugh.

Our boy always had the funniest jokes , the story he just had to tell you etc, just for nightime, he knows its just a delaying tactic, nothing more.

Children are very quick to tune into what makes us tick, he knows this wins most times.

I know it must be difficult for you, but your having to tell him off all the time as your not making him listen to you the 1st time.

Once he learns the rules, then you wont need to reprimand him as , he will do them(ok maybe you may have to "give that voice" sometines)

Plenty of time before bedtime to have fun, you dont need to be an orge to be a parent.

liney

mutley74 wrote: »

Out of interest how old is your son?

Nearly 7 - Year 2 at school.

Regardless of their age, you are allowing him to challenge your authority. If our children don't respect our authority when they are small, then we have no hope when they are teenagers.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi, we have had major problems with bed times and sleep with my poorly son, he thinks he might die in his sleep bless him. Your sons problems might not be that extreme but some of the professional advice we have had might help:

If you are having trouble with bed times your child must get up at the same time each day, no matter how hard this is. No good letting them sleep in as this just compounds the problem.

Be firm and consistent. The day has to come to an end at some point and bed time is bed time. Make sure he knows when you expect him to be in bed on a school night and weekends/holidays. Talk to him about this during the day when things are calm and agree times. Check there arent any reasons why he is finding it hard to sleep.

If he wont stay in bed sit with him in the dark for an agreed period of time then explain that you are going but will check on him again in 15 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 45 minutes if necessary. Be prepared to be firm if he gets up and try not to get into conversations - its time for bed and any problems can wait until tomorrow.

One thing we had some success with is a little portable radio. My son is allowed to have this in bed with him so long as the volume is low and it does help him to switch off and go to sleep.

Whatever methods you try make sure you stick to it over a couple of weeks before you decide whether its working.

Oh and make sure your OH is on board. My hubby is a bit more lenient about bed times, probably because he is not with the little darlings all day!!

mutley74

cheepskate wrote: »

LOL, this really made me laugh.
.

not sure why you find my situation funny?
anyway if that is the case, please dont bother replying.

Merry Xmas

gunsandbanjos

mutley74 wrote: »

not sure why you find my situation funny?
anyway if that is the case, please dont bother replying.

Merry Xmas

Over reaction much? I think if you read the rest of their post properly you would see they were laughing because they have the same situation with their son and were empathising.

mutley74

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

Over reaction much? I think if you read the rest of their post properly you would see they were laughing because they have the same situation with their son and were empathising.

okay but the post was not very clear in how it came across, maybe the poster could have made a bit better of use of wording to avoid the confusion.

mutley74

Anyway some partial success last night!
Had to go out till 10pm but family looking after son said he was upstairs at the time he said (915) and went to bed after gettig changed with no fuss. When i came back he was partially awake in bed but made no fuss!
Thanks for the tips!