Bedtime Success
Hello folks, Friday is here. I know that last weeks Fri-Dad came a little later than expected, we apologise after a slight issue with blogger.
This week, we are late in the day, but are in schedule.
Today, I'm going to talk a little about bedtime struggles and how I found a new way that not only makes bedtime less stressful, but also saves me losing my temper and now I can use it throughout the day. Now this is not me bragging about well I can parent, I'm not that dad, this is also not me telling you how to parent. I simply found a formula that works for us, it's simply here for you to try if you have issues getting you're little angel to bed.
Before even trying this, bedtime and telling off was useless. Routines, changes never worked. My son really had a flair for not listening. Why wouldn't he? Because I didn't listen to him. Orders, forcing him into bed and shouting was simply causing more stress and aggro than required.
The case led to more tantrums, poor behaviour and ugly nights sleep. I take my hat off to my fiancée, because I can only regret and apologise both how nasty I was and how rough I've looked in the past.
Sooooo many different tips and tricks were tried: late night drives, diet change, exercise before bed, different bubble baths...nothing brought successful nights sleep.
That was, until we made a change in approach. We decided to give him a few options. Some of you probably already use this approach, but I love it. We gave him options for pyjama wear, big success, we got him to help close the blinds, pick the books to read before bed, super move and then lights on or off before bed.
For him, it was a huge change in attitude. Pyjamas laid out for him to pick, fun pulling the blinds down, picking through the books and even a song before bed.
If he did still have an attitude before bed, we gave him an ultimatum: either these options or these options. This meant that if a tantrum was to ensue, we calmly were able to explain that Mum and Dad heard his choices and stuck to what he said. Assuring 'we did as he asked' we were listening to him and he got his way meant he was unable to complain, if he did we could simply a new ultimatum.
By doing this, it meant we were in control, we didn't have to yell and now, Max is asleep nice and easy. That leaves more time to hang out, catch up on tv and of course, write a Fri Dad post.
I recommend if you haven't tried it trying it. I'm not one to tell you how to parent or that you're doing it wrong, that's not what Fri-Dad is for. I've just found trial and error leads to wonderful results and it's worth having an open mind about tactics.
Next week, I'm dropping you another episode of Dad Disasters for extra chuckles for the weekend. As always, thanks for reading and have a great weekend.
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