Bedtime Battles

Ever since we relocated in France, we had this problem with Shannon almost every night. She will take about 1 - 1.5hr to fall asleep. We started with a routine initially but it really stress me up till i gave up. But things are really getting out of hand, cos she wakes up 11am and take her nap between 5-7pm and sleep at only 12-1am

Well, I have started a routine recently because she will be attending her playgroup next week.

I will give her milk at about 10pm, then repeatedly reminding her that this will be the last TV program she will be watching. Of course the battles was fierce for the first few days and eventually she accept the fact that mummy is not going to let her watch another show. Then, we will bring her soft toys (all that can be seen in the living room) back to the bedroom. Arrange all the soft toys nicely on the bed and another battle begins. I will sing her a series of lullaby, after all the songs, she will start asking for things to delay her sleeping time or rather to test my patience.

"Mummy, 搽搽" Then she will turn and sleep on her front. I will get up the bed and find some moisturizer to rub it on her back and chest.

10 mins later

"Mummy, mummum" She will point to the " 惊风散". Well, I will get up again and give her some.

10 mins later

"Mummy, ter ter" She is referring to "Water", sometimes I guess she hope that I do not have water in the bedroom so that she can follow me to the kitchen to get some for her. Because when I pass the water to her, you can see the disappointment in her eyes.

Etc... etc... till my patience runs out which is usually after 45 mins. I will tell her please close your eyes and sleep or else I will off the lights! She will lie down; close her eyes sometimes with both her hands covering her eyes. After another 15 mins of toss and turn, she will finally fall asleep.

It's usually hard to start a routine but I will persevere on for her own good... There are still a lot more of rules, habits or routines to carry out. Good Luck to Me. ^_^