Bedtime

We've been having a tough time with bed time lately. Although he used to go to bed easily, lately he's been pulling out all the delays he can think of - more water, one more song, need to pee/poop, one more story, one more book, another hug, I want the night light on/off, I just peed on my bed (this last delay tactic is accomplished by first taking off the Pull-Up so it's quite intentional I assure you). Once he is in bed and we've said good night and shut the door, he has been getting out of bed, turning on the light and variously playing with toys, throwing his stepping stool or toys against the door, screaming or yelling "I feel sad" (or something equally guilt provoking) so that we'll come back in and try to put him to bed again. This can happen once or eight times depending on the night.

So today I got crafty with some velcro and made this bed time board for Andy's room. Actually, we'll put it on the outside of his door so he can't destroy my hard work in the span of one night time tantrum! Andy gets to choose three bedtime events - books, songs, or stories. He can have one of each or mix them up, so each night he'll decide what he wants and put the right circles into the 1, 2 and 3 spots. Each morning when we all wake up, if Andy had a good bed time the night before, he gets a star for that day on the rainbow. If he gets all his stars, then on Sunday he gets a surprise - a treat, a trip to the zoo, something that he will really like. Here's the board with the routine chosen for the night and several of the stars filled in.

Who knows - maybe seven days is too much delayed satisfaction for a three-year-old, but it's worth a shot! And I'll admit I had some fun making it. : )

UPDATE: Our first night, Andy went to bed on the first attempt, without additional parental visits required! He woke up this morning and first thing he said was that he gets a star. Yahoo!!!