Getting kids to stay in bed

[beefytee]

LOL, some friends of mine used to duct tape their child's diaper when they got him ready for bed.

Our last child also did this and we did use duct tape.

She eventually was able to get that off too.

[wuapinmon]

Not mine, just funny looking:

[cougjunkie]

We have been so lucky with our daughter that I am scared to have another one. She is 3 1/2 and has no problems going to bed, normally she doesnt even whine, she just says alright, shuts off the tV or puts her toys away and crawls in to bed. She also rarely woke up throughout the the night as a baby, and in the morning she will play in her room until my wife or I go in and get her. (we dont make her do this she just started doing it on her own).

Its been nice, so I am scared to death if and when we decide to have another one.

[YOhio]

With our son it worked to hang a scary rubber Halloween mask on the top of the banister across the hall from his room. He'd come charging out, see it, scream and go back to bed. (I call this tactic scarecrow.) Our three year old daughter isn't fooled. She knows it's fake and she and mostly my wife duel often for two hours. Now he's five it doesn't scare him anymore either but he's easier to keep in bed now.

Bump. For Halloween in case anyone is looking for ways to use old costumes/masks.

[Scott R Nelson]

[Surfah]

Man, for all the headaches my little girl causes me, one thing I have always been grateful for is that she goes down easy and has never slept a single night in our bed. We have a little routine. She gets her vitamins. Brushes her teeth. Picks 3 books to read. I read them to her. Then we have family prayer. Kisses and goodnight. Lights out. It really is that easy. She sleeps from about 8:30 PM to 8:00 AM the next morning. When we travel, we put her in a pack-n-play or another bed and she sleeps just as well. I pray our other kids are that easy in this regard.

Though we have a routine, it's disrupted often by my traveling out of town. Usually when that happens we'll do prayer and story time over the webcam. But she does just fine whether it's just me or just Gidget, or even my parents putting her down for the night.

Update. The oldest is still a breeze. We still follow the same routine except she reads now. Her younger sister who is two and a half, not so much. For whatever reason she doesn't need sleep.