I have been sick this past week, so last night I was laying in bed while my husband put our kids down. I heard my three-year old son telling him, "It's not bedtime. It's still light outside. Why do I have to go to bed in the day?"My husband proceeded to tell him that even though it it light out it is still night time and bedtime, kissed him, and told him goodnight.
At our house, we don't use the light to determine our childrens' bedtime; we use their amount of needed sleep. Our kids need to go to bed at 7pm (give or take a few) to be well-rested and thus well-tempered the next day. Both my husband and I can tell a significant difference in their behavior if their needed sleep is compromised, so we make it a point to do this as infrequently as possible... even when they protest, even when it is still light out; even when they protest about it being light out. You can see it in the way my husband handled my son's "light outside" question.
Some tips for keeping their bedtime appropriate as the days get longer:
-continue with your sleep schedule and bedtime routine
-make sure their bedroom is dark- darkness cues sleep
-use a sound spa to drown out outside noises that may provoke curiosity and wandering
-stick to the plan- don't waiver by your child's protests- it is good and ok to set boundaries and say no
-pay attention to the clock- make sure that you eat dinner at the same time and not let the continued light push evening events back and thus push bedtime back
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We recently got this night light and love it - http://www.goodnitelite.com/index.php
You program when you want the blue moon to come on signaling bathtime/bedtime and you program when you want it to turn into a yellow sun so the kids know when it is time to get up. It can also be used to train you kids to sleep longer in the morning. Caleb use to wake up around 6am and now he wakes up closer to 7am, when the moon turns yellow. Within a week we set the time back in increments of 15 min., and it really did work to train his body. Now he knows I don't come in his room and get him until 7am. This has been wonderful in so many ways. I have a 3 month old so it was great when I came home with her. I knew I had until 7am to nurse her, get up myself, etc.. until I had to be ready for Caleb. And I like that Caleb knows that if he calls me before 7am I am just not ignoring him. Anyways, thought I'd pass this product along since nightlights were mentioned in the post :)
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