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Took DD's electricals off her so she'd go to bed, just come up and she is in the bath. Wtf do you do when a kid won't go to bed!?

21 replies

emmadr · 20/09/2018 22:31

She's only 12!

Tried "trusting" her with her phone but she couldn't resist.

Took everything off her. Thought she was sleeping. Come up and she's in the bloody bath, telling me she "doesn't know how long she'll be"

-pulls hair out-

What to do?

OP posts:
muchalover · 20/09/2018 22:35

Take the plug away. Grin

Make an agreement that she has to be in her room by 9pm. No tech but she can read. Dim the lights as it makes it harder to read and makes you more tired. Get her up bright and early and maybe she needs a bit of exercise after school.

Keeptrudging · 20/09/2018 22:36

Switch the bathroom light off. She'll get fed up. She's on a wind-up.

ChishandFips33 · 20/09/2018 22:39

Leave her but wake her on time and maker get get up! Some kids need to see their actions through

Is there anything on her mind?

PatriciaHolm · 20/09/2018 22:41

Did you not hear the bath running?!!

Yep, plug out, light off, no electronics for the foreseeable.

Does she get up in the morning OK though?

PositivelyPERF · 20/09/2018 22:42

Go to the fuse box and turn the upstairs lights off. Tell her they must be faulty.

gamerchick · 20/09/2018 22:43

Fuse box to the upstairs lights until she gets out.

Sounds like you're going to have fun with that one. Starting with taking her phone and not giving it back for quite a while.

Sethis · 20/09/2018 22:46

Is this a one-off or a regular problem?

If it's a one-off, she might genuinely be having a hard time going to sleep, and there are myriad possible reasons for that. I'd be inclined to say "Yeah, sure take as long as you want" and pretty much let her do her own thing. That would then be followed by a breakfast table conversation about the whole episode and why a good nights sleep is important etc etc.

If it's a regular thing then a disciplinary approach as others have mentioned would be fine.

DianaPrincessOfThemyscira · 20/09/2018 22:47

Take her phone away but then let her get on with it. If she’s knackered tomorrow that’s her look out really.

DSS once spent all night playing Xbox and was found out at 6am when his stepdad got up for work. Don’t let that happen and then let him stay home from school like his mum did! (Tbf she had two littluns to get ready but still, let em suffer I say!)

emmadr · 20/09/2018 22:49

Didn't hear bath, no 😩 had TV on and half asleep on sofa. Thanks for suggestions.

Oh it's quite frequent to be honest.

OP posts:
FourRustedHorses · 20/09/2018 22:50

Mine does this too. I bought the biggest noisiest alarm clock and set it for 6:30 everytime my ‘me time’ is interrupted by the 11yo needing to bathe/pee/hug/get something after bedtime

10 days in 11yo was asleep by 9pm.

DangerMouse17 · 20/09/2018 22:55

Utterly ridiculous. I suggest you confiscate her mobile or other fave electronic device for the foreseeable. She should be in bed and clearly thinks she can do what she likes. She needs discipline, plain and simple. Do it now before it's too late...or you'll have an awful time when she's actually a teenager!

Rebecca36 · 20/09/2018 23:03

It's only just gone 11pm so not that late even now and it was 10.30pm when you first posted.

I fail to see a problem. I think when you go to bed, she should too because it doesn't seem quite right for kids to be downstairs while you're asleep - though when she is older it will be different.

Tobermory · 20/09/2018 23:07

Rebecca you don’t see the problem with a 12 year old being up at 11pm on a school night?! Shock

PatriciaHolm · 20/09/2018 23:10

So how is she when she has to get up in the morning?

DangerMouse17 · 20/09/2018 23:10

Can always count on Rebecca36 to arrive with the voice of wisdom Hmm

sirmione16 · 20/09/2018 23:11

@Rebecca36 no. 11pm is far too late for a 12 year old to be up on a school night. And without permission. Come on.

Lollypop701 · 20/09/2018 23:12

growing children need sleep... adults need to ensure they get it because kids are idiots 🤣 and believe they can function on air. Allowance based on behaviour... with cash points if I don’t ask/remind. Good luck

megletthesecond · 20/09/2018 23:15

Fuse box.
My parents did it when I was younger.
Although she might be canny enough to find a torch.

AuditAngel · 20/09/2018 23:47

Unfortunately my 11 year old was still do8ng h9mework at 11.15. It’s not a regular occurrence, she was doin* homework when we left at 6 for dancing lesson, that overran, left at 9, dropped her friend home, which didn’t leave time to drop my girls home before collecting DS from cadets at 9.30

Went to get takeaway for dinner, home around 10.15 and DD1 went straight back to the homework.

Start of year 7 is hard, juggling out of school clubs and commitments plus homework.

Rebecca36 · 21/09/2018 01:19

DangerMouse17 Thu 20-Sep-18 23:10:25
Can always count on Rebecca36 to arrive with the voice of wisdom hmm
...........
Well maybe not, I didn't mean any harm but honestly I never made a big thing out of bedtime. I only give my opinion but not advice.

When I was a child I had to go to bed early (can't really remember what time when I was 12 but it wasn't late), I'd hear my parents come up just after eleven and I was always wide awake until after they had retired. I used to read and such like and had a little radio that I put on very quietly, under the covers, listening to all sorts of music into the night.

I could have done some of that downstairs!

My child used to stay up late too, it would have been pointless sending him off to bed as he would have got up (we tried). He's an adult now, working in a profession that he loves. Sometimes when he is working at his home he stays up all night - says he is more creative then - and flakes out the next morning but he is a responsible person, meets deadlines, appointments etc.

My husband, bless him, went to bed early as a child and when he started work, would fall asleep in the evening after dinner in front of the TV if he wasn't going out. He still does that! We're all different.

All I was trying to say, really, is that children are individuals and we have to be flexible. What suits one child doesn't suit another.

The op's daughter may just be going through a phase, as they/we do.

wrenika · 21/09/2018 09:36

When I took too long in the bath my dad gave me a time limit then said he'd take the door off it's hinges! That worked.
I'd switch the lights off at the fusebox and leave her to it. Take away her electronics. Force her to get up early. She'll soon get the picture.

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