Help - 3 year won't go to bed!

[AK1107]

In the past my DD has been pretty good in going to bed but for the past couple of months it's a nightmare getting her to go to bed. She just keeps getting up and coming out of her room. She uses every excuse - more water, a new book, she wants to be tucked in, she needs to go to the toilet etc. She is particularly bad when my DH is around. He works long hours so she doesn't really see him in the evening apart from weekends so usually at weekends it takes us two hours to get her to settle.

I keep trying to put her back to bed (I'm not very good in trying not to talk to her though!), I threaten her with shutting her door and no TV the next day but nothing seems to work.

Her bedtime is 7pm but I am starting to think that this maybe too early? I really don't know what to do. I am just so drained with continually putting her back to bed at the end of the day that I can't think how to handle it properly. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you!

We were having the same problem with our 3yo DD too. But we do let her stay up later so she can see DH in the evenings. She is the queen of bedtime faffing about.

What we did was explain to her during the day time, not bedtime, that she has to go to bed at 8:00pm and lights go out at 8:30pm. During this half hour she can get her drink sorted, read stories, say goodnight to both of us and that is it. If she gets up after 8:30pm her door gets shut.

The first day she semed to have gotten it and we haven't had any problems since. Our evenings are so much more relaxed now with out her constant encores.

AK1107, we went through a similar thing with DD when she was about 2 an a half but it only lasted about a month in total. It was hell on earth so you have my deepest sympathy. In the end I would sit on the landing outside her bedroom door and everytime the dfoor opened i would just calmly walk her back to bed, say goodnight again and come back out. Then I'd get another few minutes fo reading my bookl before it happened again and again and again. Some nights she'd only come out of her room about 3 times and other nights it would be 30. But, like so many things with children this age, it stopped just as swiftly as it started.

oh blimey this is exactly what we are going through. dd1 was in bed asleep by 7.20 every night until a few months back and now shes talking to herself and getting out of bed and rearranging her teddies and using the potty until gone 9. I got to bed at 10. This is pretty much ruining our lives (at the risk of being too dramatic)

At the risk of being shouted down for this by the MN police, we put a cheap CD player (with the volume taped down) next to DD's (2.5) bed. We've got several audio-books that she can listen to and that seems to have stopped (or at least reduced) her faffing at bedtime - once she's had her normal stories from one of us, she can read her books or listen to a book without constantly popping her little head out for company...

7does a bit early for a 3yr old. My DD bed time routine starts @ 7.30 to be tucked up by 8.00. she is asleep in minutes. Maybe you could shift her bedtime by 1/2hr & see if it makes a difference?