Toddlers and young children don’t always want to go right to sleep when you want them to. It gets frustrating. especially at nap time. Naps can be very productive when you need to get things done around the house or just take a breather. Yet, on those days when you just have so many errands to run you might need the kid to nap to recharge his batteries and not waste any time doing it. My kid has been known to entertain himself in his bed for hours before falling asleep. I was powerless until about 24 months. What I do is exactly what I remember my Grandma doing to me. To me, I feel its very important to have a strategy laid out. This way even if I’m yelling its just an act of dominance as the parent. I feel that is much better for me rather than yelling out of frustration or anger.
STEP ONE: First, I put him down in the bed. these days he crawls in himself. I give him about ten minutes on his own to wind down. If I need him to fall asleep right away at this point I barge back into his room abruptly and tell him to stop making noise and go right to sleep. I make sure he is lying down perfectly flat on his back with his legs straight. This is an important part. Lay flat, legs straight, and all tucked in. The last thing I do before I walk out of the room is tell him that he better not make me come back in there. then I walk away for about a minute.
STEP TWO: I come right back to the outside of his door and I eaves drop. If you hear your child make even the slightest peep, barge in again and startle him and repeat step one minus the ten minute cool down period.
STEP THREE: This time do not walk away. Stand right out side the door and in 30 second to 1 minute. yell through the door “Go to sleep” Do this even if they aren’t moving or making noise.
This works very well for me. A video monitor is a great tool while doing this method. It’s entertaining to see him tense up and wonder how I knew he wasn’t going to sleep. I get a little tickled by it. We have been doing this almost a year now and I usually skip right over step two and go straight to step three. In the beginning you may have to repeat step two a few times. I believe this will work for just about anybody, the thing to keep in mind is your child. Will your child understand what you are trying to do? They have to reach a certain awareness before this method will work. The way I knew that he was ready for this method is (A.) I tried it and it worked and (B). every time I would walk in the room when he either just woke or trying to go down, he would freeze up and pretend that he was sleeping on his own. If you try it and your kid just isn’t ready for it. That’s OK. Wait until they are a bit older and try again. Trust me. It worked on me up until I was much older and even old enough to remember my Grandma doing it to me.
