My four year old will NOT go to bed

[verona]

Joel used to go to bed at 7oclock on the dot and be asleep by half past at the latest, but over the past few months he will just NOT stay in his room. As soon as I put him to bed he is up within 5 minutes running around his room and throwing his toys around, throwing them down the stairs, shouting to me etc. I have tried ignoring him, sitting in his room with him, putting him in my bed with me and he still does the same thing! Most nights its going on 11-12pm before he even attempts to go to sleep. He makes excuses to come out of his room several times a night and once hes finally asleep and i get to sleep I wake up to find him in my bed with me. I need some help lol, what else can I try? Ive tried waking him up early and its still the same thing come bed time.

Thanks in advance

 

[RachA]

I would suggest trying super nannies techniques. I would of thought that he's playing up because he knows he gets your attention from it.
If he was staying in his room then i would probably just leave him too it - insist that the light stays off though. My son was like this for a while a year or so ago. He would go to bed at 8pm but wouldn't be asleep until 9 or 9.30. As he was just playing in his bedroom i didn't mind. If he started to get noisy i would tell him he had go to bed right them. All of a sudden he stopped playing for so long and would be asleep by 8.30pm.
As your son comes out of his room and is throwing things etc then i don't think you can just leave it. If you look at the super nanny website i think it gives you tips on how to deal with it. I think her ideas work too.

 

[Daniellas]

I had the issue a while back as well with my (6 year old) son. What I did is hard to explain but I was being consequent and NOT letting him stay up a minute later. If he first sees your "weakness" then he'll keep on trying.

 

[SurferMommy]

Hi hun, I have a 3 year old who sometimes does the same. Bedtime in our house is usually between 8 and 9. Anyways, one twin falls straight asleep always, Bodhi doesn't. He used to get up several times wanting a drink or a snack, or another story. Or you would hear him shuffling around getting a different teddy or going to the toilet. If he came into our room or downstairs, we would use super nanny's technique and just put him back to bed again. And after a while he soon gave in. Now, I don't think it's him looking for attention, I seriously think he has trouble falling asleep. I have tried everything, waking him up earlier, everything. But at night he will lie in bed for hours and not fall asleep until midnight some nights! His daddy suffers from Insomnia, has done since he was about 9. But hopefully it's just a short-term thing for Bodhi, but i'm still strongly consider getting this looked into further in the very near future if it continues. Anyways, try just putting him back in his room every time he comes out, because most likely it's just to get your attention. Just be persistent with him. Someone told me I should set up a chart, and every night he goes to bed and doesn't get up (unless he really has to) he gets a smiley face, and when he makes a full week and gets 7, he gets a treat. xx

 

[verona]

Thanks for the replies I have tried the 'supernanny' technique and it just doesnt work for us. I've also tried the stickerchart too I have been considering taking Joel to the doctors for a while now because of this, and the fact that he is such a hyper active child anyway! It's becoming very difficult and im really wanting to tackle this as quick as possible before the new baby arrives lol x

 

[Lenny]

My step daughter went thru this phase last year she would come down the stairs every 5 mins saying she wasnt tired i would put her bak to bed and tell her to stay there and go to sleep and she would slowly make her way bak down the stairs i could hear her this went on for about a week every 5 mins from 7oclock till about 10 at night and sometimes id wake up to find her standing in front of me at 2oclock in the morning saying she wasnt tired and didnt want to sleep (she was 4) so i started saying everytime she got out of bed and come down stairs there was no sweets all day the next day didnt matter how good she was or if she ate all her meals she wouldnt get sweets because she got out of bed. (sweets are her weakness) i had to take the sweets for one day and that was it she never got outta bed again and she never has since