When a reward chart works a little too well....

[bigmouthstrikesagain]

My ds (3) has been sleeping really poorly recently - a bout of extended illness, xmas lethargy and over-excitement meant he was spending far too much time in our bed instead of his. I wouldn't mind but when he is snoring in your ear and kicking it is hard to sleep!!!!

So I decided to motivate him with a star chart and the promise of a new toothbrush (that lights up etc)at the end of 7 days if he stayed in his own bed all night.

So he was very good on the 1st night 11 hours and not a peep - he woke up very excited to put a star on his chart, last night again he stayed in his room until 6.45am when he crept in to our bedroom to say he had wet the bed! Because he did not want to lose his star he did not get up for the loo and stayed in the wet bed for god knows how long...

I feel awful - i have explained he can of course get up if he needs a wee! Are there any other exclusions I should remember??

Anyway motivation is good but I must be very clear about what he can do as well - to avoid future unanticipated problems!!

My little one is terrible for coming into our room at early hours.

I've told her she can only get out of her bed if she

a. Needs the toilet
b. Feels unwell

I've ordered her a sleep sleep training clock so hopefully that will work

sleep training clock is tempting - he does have a Tweenies alarm clock - but dd keeps running off with it. Not sure where it is at the mo.

We have the bunny clock and although great in principle one thing is really annoying- the alarm goes off as well as te bunny waking up meaning that whether or not your lo was awake at the time you've set then he or she certainly will be!

(e.g. I think 6.30 is ok to come into our room for a cuddle but it would be even nicer if ds stayed in his bed until we were ready to get up at say 7.30. The bunny clock guarantees he will be in our room at 6.30 as the alarm wakes him- if the bunny opened its blimmin eyes without the sound of the alarm it would be much better)

Grrrr! Sorry, rant over now.

Agree wth Radley, loo and illness are the two that immediately spring to mind- although if ds had had an awful nightmare and was really really terrified I'd be ok about him coming to us for a bit of reassurance before we tucked him back into his own bed. (this has happened quite often recently, ds sleeping is all to cock for the same reasons as your ds, same age too)

Good luck

Minkus I (sort of ) really agree with you about that bloody rabbit clock. We spent goodness knows how many pounds on the thing and then, although I don't agree with you about the alarm - it must be a slightly different one, when his ears pop up they make such a noise that a) it will wake the dead and b) dd doesn't like it because it makes her jump! Back to the drawing board!

somebody here on MN recommended a cheaper alternative to a bunny clock - a cheap bedside lamp on a timer switch. Worked brilliantly for us. It was out of reach so didn't get broken and could easily be adjusted at weekends without ds realising

Ha, reward charts! They can backfire. DS(4) asked if he could have one for carrying his Thunderbird Island downstairs on his own 'cos last time, apparently, he said he couldn't do it. Can he also have a chart for eating 4 choc biscuits, instead of just 2 etc.