1 post tagged “bedtime warnings”
Children like routines and knowing what is happening next in their lives. Even though a child may know his bedtime is 8:00 p.m. he might still try to make deals, beg & plead, or even throw a fit to stay up longer. Giving a child a warning or two that bedtime is drawing near helps to prevent some of the resistance.
If you do give warnings, make sure that the amount of time left between the warning and the actual bedtime is understandable for the child's age. Though a small child might not really comprehend how long two minutes is, he will be more cooperative with a two minute warning than if you tell him he has to go to bed in a half an hour, then after the half hour you try to put him right to bed. Since most small children have a short attention span, a half hour warning will be long forgotten in 10 minutes and will do almost nothing to prepare the child to transition smoothly.
Every child is different, but most respond well to either a 10 minute warning and then a 5 minute warning, or a 5 minute and then a 2 minute warning. If you keep your warning times consistent and actually follow through when you say it is bedtime or time to leave a playdate etc., then you will probably experience less resistance than you would with random warnings or no warnings at all.
Lisa McLellan
