4 Tips To Put A Stop To Your Toddler’s Bedtime Stalling
If you have a toddler on your hands right now, you are probably discovering very fast that they learn something new almost every single day! They are very observant and can pick up on behaviours rather quickly - such as how you can open the door with a child proof lock on it - all they have to do is watch you do it and they can basically figure it out. One thing that they may not pick up on (unless they have older siblings who do it) is how to stall bedtime… somehow they figure out how to do this simply by testing their parents to see how far they can push and what they can get away with. The more they can get away with, the more they will push. In this blog, I will discuss some simple tips to help put a stop to these bedtime stalling tactics that your toddler may be getting away with!
I don’t know about you, but I most definitely have a toddler who tries his best to stall as much as possible as soon as bedtime comes around. He tries everything from reading books over and over to wanting to kiss everyone - including all his toys - goodnight (twice) to wanting a drink to hiding behind the cushions of the couch. He will literally try anything to stall his bedtime from happening and at the beginning I thought it was kinda cute. Well, that cuteness sure wore off fast and I finally put an end to these stalling tactics he was using by sticking to a strict bedtime routine and not letting him push the limits of this. In the end, it was up to me to provide consistency and a routine to get things back on track. I am not going to lie - sometimes he still will try to push bedtime, but he rarely ever gets past 5 minutes later than actual bedtime and that’s because I have stayed true to being consistent and not giving in. So, with that being said, let’s get into some tools I use - and recommend to others - to help get bedtime done on time.
4 Tools To Put A Stop To Your Toddlers Stalling Tactics
There are toddler friendly alarm clocks that you can use to help ensure your toddler knows when it is bedtime and that once the alarm goes off, there is no pushing past that time. This can help them to follow and stick to the bedtime routine. These alarm clocks are usually used to help keep your toddler in bed at night and to help them get a better understanding of when it’s time to get out of bed in the morning and when they need to stay in bed and sleep. Therefore, you can use it in different ways with your toddler and it can come in super handy! My favourite toddler clock is this one or this one and I highly recommend them for both uses!
Using a bedtime routine chart that they can actually see may be very useful for toddlers as they can visualize what needs to be done and what they need to follow. I would be more than happy to make a bedtime routine chart specifically for your toddler (their choice of theme, their name on it, etc) and do offer that to clients as well! Send me an email and I will make one for you!
To ensure that your toddler doesn’t try to use going to the bathroom as an excuse every 5 minutes when they should be going to bed or when they are already in bed, you can incorporate going to the potty in the bedtime routine. An example would be this: bath, brush teeth, pjs, potty, book and bedtime.
In order to ensure that your toddler doesn’t in fact truly need to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes before bed, you can make sure to cut off any liquids an hour before bedtime. Then you can make sure to use the potty as part of the bedtime routine and there really shouldn’t be any need for the bathroom once bedtime comes and also when they should be going to sleep (although they may need to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and that is okay).
If you find that your toddler is using these stalling tactics and they are pushing their bedtime much later than it should be, you may find that they are waking frequently throughout the night. This is happening because they have become overtired and this is why it is very important to put their stalling tactics to a halt. As the parent, you want to be sure that you are sticking to the bedtime routine as best as you can and stay consistent with it. If you give in, it can really set things back and make things harder for everyone in the long run. Commit to sticking to the routine, set a plan so that the routine can be accomplished and then get it done! You got this!!
If you liked this blog, please share it with other parents who could use it! If you would like more weekly content, then you would love my Facebook group Sleep Little One where I give weekly tips and advice to exhausted parents looking to improve their little one’s sleep!
If you would like a personalized 1:1 plan to help get your little one on the road back to better sleep in a way that is specific to their needs - and your own - then you can take a look at my packages and contact me to get started! It would be an honour to help your family get back to sleeping well again!
