re: Parenting question - 4 year old

Melatonin gummies near bed time works wonders. Amazons alexa has a kids version that can play a small library of nighttime stories for them to listen to also. Good luck the fight can be hard at times, but remember thier still little.

The fact that you can lock her door from the outside is disturbing.

But yes, you put your foot down and let them cry. That’s how it works. Not sure about locking the door though.

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The fact that you can lock her door from the outside is disturbing

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I was waiting for someone to comment on that. I turned the door knob around because she would play in her room and lock the door. This way she can’t lock the door if she is in her room.

It is weird. My 7 and 6 year old are great but my 4 year old is a monster. I’m terrified for the teenage years.

I have a 4 year old also
I had the same battle when he was 3
I agree with what you did, and also with what other posters are saying... you have to establish a routine.
My son knows at 7pm, bath, then brush his teeth, then relax time with story or cartoons, then bed

Now I have started all over again, with a 13 week old puppy.
I am trying to train the puppy the same as my son

Good Luck!!

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understand boundaries

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For my 5 year old, it's this and she's trying to get a win somewhere. She constantly would come out of her room and try to sneak in and watch TV while me and wife were watching.

"I just want some water"
"I just want a hug"

All the excuses in the world to not go to bed, we structured it so she can get a "win" within our boundaries.

Now we do our normal routine and she is the type of kid that has to wind down. So she lays in bed, winds down, comes downstairs gives the dogs a hug, then she's off to bed and asleep.

No, it’s not wrong. You’ll feel bad but I used to do this same thing with my 2 year old. Everybody sleeps better now, including him.

My 5 y/o has always been pretty good sleeping until she gets a “nightmare” and comes barreling in to our room

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Question for the OT parents. My 4 year old has been refusing to go to bed and fights us for about 2 hours. It isn’t every night but it came to a head last night and I finally told my wife to let me handle it. I took my daughter and put her in her room and locked the door from the outside. I let her scream and kick and cry and after about 10-15 minutes, she passed out on her floor. Once she was asleep, I went in and put her in her bed and she didn’t come down until the morning.

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My toddler did this. She would scream if we left the room. And after we tuck her in, she would watch to make sure we didn’t leave the room. My wife was burning an hour just to try to get her to sleep.

So one night at bedtime I read her a story like usual, I rocked her to sleep, and I put her in her crib. Instead of waiting for her to sleep, I kissed her good night and quietly left the room. When I left the room she freaked out. I went in every 5 minutes to check on her so she knows we were close, but but I did not take her from the crib to rock her again. She feel asleep after about 5-6 minutes of sobbing.

The first night was hard but now she falls asleep much faster and sleeps through the night unless there is a storm. She usually falls asleep very easily now. And sleeps until about 5:30 or 6:00. Sometimes she even sleeps in long enough for me to do a few chores before she wakes up.

Honestly the first night was harder for me than it probably was for her. I hate it when she’s upset and I spoil her. But I am glad we got on a better schedule.

I think what you did was just fine. I would supplement it with a routine that you stick to every night. At X time, you go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, we read a book (or whatever calming activity, you get your drink, your kiss and hug, we tuck you in. Good night!

If you start trying to placate her throwing tantrums, you're going to be doing it for the rest of her life. She needs to learn to control herself.

I would also whip a child that was kicking and screaming, but most people aren't comfortable with that anymore, especially girls.

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Does she attend daycare? Tell them to cut the nap out.

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Oh you want the daycare to just let his child roam free and not say a word while all the other kids sleep? Are you high already ?

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Oh you want the daycare to just let his child roam free and not say a word while all the other kids sleep?

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Or, you know, give them books during nap time

That's what ours does. My 4 year olds preschool teacher said only half of the kids nap at this age.