Curtain Calls

If you’ve been around kids at bedtime, you already know what a “curtain call” is: those repeated, sometimes dramatic performances designed to delay bedtime.  “I want a drink”, “I need to use the bathroom”, or “Will you tuck me in again?” are common excuses. How you handle a curtain call can have lasting effects on a child’s sleep.

For some children, these prolonged bedtime issues end with the child falling asleep independently and sleeping through the night. However, for other children, the battle ends only when the parent lies down with the child to get them to fall asleep, resulting in a negative sleep-onset association. In these cases, the child may then migrate to the parents’ bed in the middle of the night following a typical nighttime arousal. Alternatively, at the end of the battle, the parents may simply allow the child to fall asleep in their bed, where they will remain for the duration of the night (because if the parent moves them back to their own bed after falling asleep, the child again simply migrates to the parents’ bed in the middle of the night).

Instead of engaging in this frustrating battle at bedtime, encourage the child to stay in bed by themselves. This may involve placing the child back in bed after they migrate until the child falls asleep. This may sound exhausting, but by encouraging independent sleeping, you can save yourself further nighttime disruptions in the future.