Let me preface by saying that never have I had to deal with a horrible sleeper. My kids love to go to bed. They've all slept through the night (or I have) since they were a few weeks old.
Suddenly, Maggie has a huge fit every night before bed. I'm not talking a fit of just crying or screaming. It's a fit with hitting and swearing, oh wait, that's me, but she does her fair share of kicking and hitting.
She started this about the same time she broke her arm. It's her left arm, and she sucks her left thumb. Well, with the cast on, the thumb is gone. I think part of this problem is that she's having withdrawals. But it's been over a week now, and it's still going on. Last night was not pretty. There were threats of abuse, plenty of cussing and many times I threw my hands in the air in exasperation.
What do I do? How can I get her to bed each night without threatening to kill her?
(Don't bother calling DCFS, they would only have to see this sort of fit one time, and they'd give me a slap on the back, and wish me luck as they headed right back out the door).
6 comments:
We've been having troubles getting Areya to bed too but not any thing like that! WOW! I start taking away privileges for the next day like watching TV, playing the Wii, going to friends house, going to dance, all the fun stuff. Good luck! I hope you figure something out. I bet all the change has been hard on her and it's just her way of expressing her frustration!
OOOOOO, doesn't sound like much fun. When B-Man starts up we ignore him. seriously, we lock him his room and ignore him - he eventually goes to sleep and I don't have thoughts of beating him to a pulp - it's a win/win for us.
Or you could just let her stay up, but make it less desirable than going to bed: "You can stay up, but you can only sit in this hard kitchen chair - no books, no TV, etc." Or tell her she can stay up but you are "off duty" and will not be fixing her drinks, reading books, etc.
We do what Liz does too - taking away privileges until something works.
Is there any way she could articulate what's going on with herself? (I think of my kids at her age - Marli totally could have told me chapter and verse of what was bothering her...the boys, mmmm...notsomuch.)
There's always Benadryl. *grin*
When McKinley was doing that it was Hell. Barney wasn't working for me anymore and it had been 4 months of no sleep. Our wise mother told me to take her to the Dr. She told me that something got her out of her nightly routine (big girl bed, broken arm, new house, take your pick). She just needed something to help her get back into a routine. So, she smiled and told me to give her benedryl every night until I dared not. It totally worked! She also suggested a nightlight. I have a testimony of benedryl. So does Kelli. You could sneak some to Charlie too.
Sorry, but I'm of no help. Luckily my kids all love to go to bed (and zonk out fast). Good luck with that though!
I didnt have the fits, but I had the not wanting to sleep in her own bed. So every night she slept in her own bed, she got a coupon buck. When she earned enough she could trade it in for something she had really been wanting (date night with mom or dad, pack of gum etc) It was a way to stop me from getting upset and prevent the dreaded bed time. Not sure if that would work or not, but I sure hope you are able to find something :)
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