Monday, April 28, 2008

Bedtime Chaos

We are at such a loss with what to do with Adrianna at bed time. She has been crying/screaming since she has been about 1 year old. Shawn and I have prayed about this, we have sought out parenting books, but we have no idea if we are missing something or if this is just a phase she will be in FOREVER!
Here is our typical bedtime..
Around 7 or 7:30 we begin either baths or getting our jammies on.
Some nights we watch a short video with our snack or we play a game with our snack.
We brush teeth, go potty, and then head to bed for our bible story and good-night's.

Here is how tonight's scenario went...
We had a bath.
We finished watching Enchanted with our snack. She was in a great mood, very talkative and pleasant.
We brushed our teeth and a little argument about the importance of going potty before bed and then it began.
She wanted Daddy to read to her. So he came in and they were sitting on her bed ready to read. She then asked if she could hold all her little Princess figurines in bed. Daddy said no so she got out of bed and came to ask me. I also said no and then the screaming, crying started. She turned into a little snot and told daddy she didn't want to look at his face among other things. Daddy said if she didn't stop being unkind they were not going to read. She was still acting snotty so Daddy said they were done. He had to spank her and we shut the door. Then she came out because she said she fell off the bed. Duh...if she wasn't thrashing around she would not have!

We have done sticker reward charts for every night she doesn't cry. She earned 2 rewards and then she wasn't interested. We have prayed with her, reasoned with her, and disciplined her.
We are at a complete loss..so if anyone has any help or suggestions we would LOVE them!

She just came out of bed again and Shawn didn't say a word to her, took her back up to bed and shut the door again. I think the crying has stopped now.....

3 comments:

Rachel Hammond said...

Yep...sounds familiar. If you come up with anything, I'll take the suggestions too!! :)

Rygal said...

Becky,

It sounds like what Shawn did by not saying a word and putting her back in bed is exactly what you should do. Even though it's a power struggle every night, you just have to make sure you win (although most of the time it feels like losing!). Hang in there, you guys are great parents!

Just remember to record this for posterity...I'm thinking videos might be a nice thing to show any potential boyfriends that you want to scare away! hehehehe

((HUG))

friendlyfaces said...

I feel for you, but you two are so consistant and loving at the same time. She will grow out of this.. soon I hope. Just continue to remind her that you are in charge!
You'll figure out what works best for you all!