3 year old bedtime tantrums "one more book"

Anonymous
One book, nothing else. If she tantrums, zero books next day. Monkey latch on the door if you have to.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My rule was three books at bedtime. But then she'd sometimes choose a book of poetry and insisted I read every single freaking poem in it along with the other two books! And she knew if I tried to skip a poem.

Of course, she later won a huge college scholarship to an excellent college based own writing her own poetry, so in retrospect, it was time well-spent.

This too, shall pass, but I do remember the bedtime separation issues. It's about that more than the number of books.


Yes it's definitely separation issues. And it breaks my heart! What's the research on this say? Will my kid be more secure if I stay with her until she falls asleep?


Your child will be less secure if you stay with her because you are validating her fears. Also, she will stop putting herself back to sleep when she wakes up at night.

Absolute consistent routine, set number of books and then goodnight.
Bella_lee
Member Offline
I think consistency is key to helping you establishing a sleep time routine for your daughter. Of course making sure there is nothing external that might be causing her distress is also important. At that age, testing the boundaries is normal but once they understand you are going to stick to bed time rules, they should soon adjust. All the best.
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