Getting Wyatt to stay in his room at night has become quite an issue in our household. We've tried just about everything from timeout if he gets out of bed to the dreaded wooden spoon. (I won't even tell you how many wooden spoons we have placed strategically throughout the house). Nothing is working. It's a constant boomerang effect.
This is what we've had to resort to. The rope is tied between Wyatt's door (left) and the bathroom door (right). We have the egg-shaped door handles so those child-proof knobs won't work. After he falls asleep & before I go to bed, I remove it so he's able to get out of his room if he needs to. I hate doing this & feel awful trapping him in to get him to stay in his room and in bed, but desperate times call for desperate measures! If anyone (besides Health and Welfare) has any suggestions, please let me know.
...and don't call Child Protective Services on me.
8 comments:
Don't feel bad. Jamie does the same thing to me on the weekends.
You could try a "baby gate" - we did that for awhile. Put it up high enough he can't crawl over, but so there's not enough room to go under. That way you can leave the door open so he feels secure that you are still there. Just an idea.
yeah, you know how well the baby gate worked for us. for a while and then he figured it out. that was my only suggestion. we then resorted to locking him out of our room but i know that wyatt has a tendency to wander. so, basically we are in the same boat and haven't had much success. that is why sulli slept on our floor for a couple of months...we finally gave up! kate says to just keep putting them back without saying a word. time after time after time. sulli outlasted me on this one. sorry...no help here.
That's awesome Lisa! Way to be creative...sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!
Yes, this will be an investment in time but I think would work (if you're feeling bad about barring his door). Here's the thing, the pay off for getting out bed is too high. The wonder, the excitement of getting away with it, the walking around, the playing with toys. That outweighs getting caught... so take it away from him. He needs to be spanked as soon as his little pinky toe touches the floor. This means camping out and watching this and then BAM!!! Daddy and the wooden spoon rock his world. Once he figures out that there's no negotiation on him simply being out of bed he will stop. Train him to call you if he needs something. This won't be easy but it will work. Credit for this idea goes to April Moffat.
Since I don't have kids this is just some observations.
Ss the spanked son of a preacher man, i can say now swats are not justified unless he's hurting another person ... also, it may not be a good idea for him to remember being tied up in his room.
I suggest trying "opposites"... greet him if he leaves or wake him in the middle of the night and walk with him to every part of the house like you would wander with a dog on a leash outside, until he literally gets tired of it and falls asleep. Then wake him and make him see the rest until the thing he wants most is only to sleep. Try a few nights in a row (which might make you a bit grumpy in the morning) but stick to your normal morning routine and wake him at the usual time and maybe he will give up the wandering, having seen everything and feeling tired all day.
Repetition and consistency are key. Just keep putting him back in the bed, stand outside the door so you can act as soon as his foot touches the floor.
The first couple of nights you may be there for hours but he'll soon give up once he realises that you're not giving in. As I say, I think the key is in repetition and consistency.
Lisa,
I don't know if you can tell, but I did NOT write that earlier post. Matt did. He is the corporal punisher around here. I would echo what someone else said. Keep putting him back to bed without a word. I saw that on Supernanny once and I tried it a few times. You don't give them any explanation or reason, just pick them up and put them back to bed. Sometimes it took the parents like 40 times the first night and after about 3 nights the kid got it. Super time consuming, I know, but it will pay off.
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