Stall Tactics

The Munchkin has discovered that there are much more interesting things to do at night than go to bed.

She has started to pull out every stalling tactic in the book to keep either the Webmaster or myself from leaving the room. Her usual routine is supposed to include at least one book (two if they are both short), turning on her favorite bedtime CD (Veggie Tales’ Junior’s Bedtime Songs), and sitting with her for at least one song, rubbing her back. However, in an effort to stay up as long as possible, she has:

– asked for a longer backrub
– asked for a diaper change
– wanted to use the potty
– asked where her various stuffed animals are (they are usually in bed right next to her, and then we have to count and check and make sure that Bob, Larry, Teddy Bear, Dolly, Kitty, MP Bunny, pink Snoopy and classic Snoopy are all there)
– wanted a hug
– wanted a kiss
– wanted another story
– wanted “medsin” for her teeth (I think one of those molars is coming in soon)

And finally, when we have extracted ourselves and left her in bed, all tucked in, sometimes, if she’s still awake, she will hop out of bed to see just what we’re up to. Of course, she immediately gets sent back to bed, but then we’re just repeating the whole song and dance again until she finally does fall asleep.

Some nights are better than others. But only once in the last couple of weeks has she been put to bed and immediately fallen asleep. And the funny thing is, she doesn’t do this at naptime. At naptime, she gets her one story and her CD turned on, and that’s it. She usually falls asleep within 15 minutes, and then takes her solid 1 1/2 to 2 hour long nap. That nap happens early enough in the day (after lunch), and her bedtime is late enough (we try and get her down around 9, but sometimes it is later) that you would think that she would be good and tired at the end of her day. But for some reason, she gets a second wind in the evening and is still hopping at bedtime.

Now, I will say that she has never outright rebelled and refused to go to bed. It’s just the falling asleep part that she has trouble with. I hope that this is something that she will outgrow soon, or I’m going to have to make her run laps in the backyard after dinner, once it gets light enough again, to wear her out.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 17th, 2006 at 12:15 am and is filed under Children.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed and Both comments and pings are currently closed.