Got any little middle-of-the-night wanderers in your house?
Yep, me too. Although mine doesn't quite wander, she belts down the hallway with all her might and bursts through the door like a tornado. It's not a coincidence that my family have given her this nickname...
We've tried asking nicely at 3am, bringing her straight back to her room, bringing her back after cuddles (how can you not), swapping beds (mostly with me), and promising all sorts of things in the thick of the night (we are human, after-all).
Not much has worked. When we ask her why she won't stay in her bed, she simply says she wants to get into our bed. And our hearts just melt!.
Recently, I stumbled across this genius trick from an amazing little blog post from
How Does She - The Trick To Keeping Kids In There Beds. So we gave it a try and guess what, it totally works. Don't you love it when someone else figures out this parenting lark for you? Thank you, Kara, you don't know me, but you have made me much happier. And less tired.
Your child will need to have a fair grasp of numbers 1- 10 to really 'get' this, although it is just matching up numbers.
1. Get a digital alarm clock
2. Make little number fold-up cards
3. Before you put them to bed, put the number in front of the minutes section and remind them they can only get out of bed when the number on the clock matches the number on the tag.
That is it! It's SO simple. And it works.
Kara suggests a few tips, which are worth mentioning:
• Buy a super-simple clock with very few buttons so they don't mess up the times, and one that works on batteries incase they unplug it.
• Keep some books in the room for the times they wake up need to pass time; try and eliminate the toys in the room so they stay in bed. (you could get them a night light to attach on to their books too).
• Be consistent. Every time they walk out of the room when its too early, walk them back into the room and show them the clock.
• A reward chart works wonders. Keep track of all the times they stay in their room without help and reward them appropriately.
Images and infö from
howdoesshe.com
