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Lights Out!
Getting Your Preschooler to Bed By P. Christine Smith
Many young children resist bedtime. "Bedtime is a time of separation (from parents) for children," says Hahn. "The best way to handle it is to establish a bedtime routine or bedtime ritual." According to Hahn, it is important for parents to warn children of the approaching bedtime in order to give the children time to transition, or to process the information. "Treat children in a respectful manner when it comes to bedtime and follow a ritual to prepare them," she says.
What should be done if the child simply won't accept lights out, begins to cry or will not stay in bed? Hahn, who raised her own children before returning to her teaching career in 1982, recounts the time when one of her young sons decided he did not want to stay in his bed when it came time for lights out. Hahn followed the ritual of putting him in bed, and then sitting on a chair in the doorway of his bedroom, reading a novel silently to herself, until he fell asleep. "It is important that you do not talk to the child. No conversation," she says. "If he won't stay in bed, calmly put him back in bed, and go back to reading the novel. Do this for about three nights, and the child will follow the bedtime rules on his own." This method has proven successful in the Hahn's preschool, as well. The children quickly learn the rule that a certain time is naptime, and they have the additional security of knowing that the teachers are unobtrusively nearby. "If a child is having trouble falling asleep, the teacher will sit next to that child, doing her paperwork or whatever, but not talk with the child."