5.5 year old suddenly resisting bedtime. Help! (kinda long)

I am at my wit's end with my kindergartener. The past week or so, he has been a nightmare getting to bed. Nothing has changed, we do the same routine. But the minute it is time to go upstairs and brush his teeth, he flips out. Once he falls asleep, he is out until the morning, which is my only saving grace. But it has been taking 2 hours some nights for him to do that.

We've tried talking to him about what might be bothering him. The past few nights he has blamed it on playing video games before bed, so we eliminated that. His other constant source of anxiety and frustration seems to be his horrible kindergarten teacher. He tells me some of the things she does/says to the class and it breaks my heart that she is his first introduction to elementary school. She is going to make him hate school. He can switch between moods at a moments notice. He will be laughing about something and then the minute I say goodnight and shut his door, he starts either crying or throwing his covers off the bed and thrashing around. It's getting ridiculous. Half the time I feel like he is playing us, but then sometimes I can't tell.

Anyone else deal with this successfully? I'm hoping it is just a phase that will pass as quickly as it began.

Re: 5.5 year old suddenly resisting bedtime. Help! (kinda long)

We gave been through funky sleep phases too. Have you tried a reward chart? For every night he goes to bed on time, without giving you a problem, he gets a sticker. Then after X amount of stickers he gets a prize. That worked really well when DS was younger.

5.5 year old suddenly resisting bedtime. Help! (kinda long)

Yep. He has a reward punch card and he gets a punch every time he goes to bed without a problem. We started this last week and he only has one punch so far! I just don't get it. I keep reminding him about the punch card, but it's like he can't control himself.

Re: 5.5 year old suddenly resisting bedtime. Help! (kinda long)

Has he been able to tell you why he doesnt want to go to bed?

We had this issues, after talking to DS we found out he is afraid of being alone in the dark. So we now have 4, yes FOUR, night lights in his room. And if he is good every few days we lay with him until he falls asleep as a reward.

ETA: He might be embarrased to admit what is really bothering him, whether its the teacher or dark or something else. DS one night just said he was a scaredy cat and thats how we got to the bottom of it.

Message edited 3/20/2014 11:06:21 AM.

5.5 year old suddenly resisting bedtime. Help! (kinda long)

He does tell us, but I don't know what to believe. He has never had this problem before and it seemed to come out of nowhere. He says he is mad at his teacher and I've told him I will make an appt to speak to her, but he dwells on these things and makes himself upset. We've tried laying next to him, reading him books, letting him cry...I honestly can't tell if he is really upset or if he just likes the game of mommy coming in his room, then daddy, then mommy, etc. We had to do cio with him as a baby and it worked wonders. Not sure what the equivalent is for a 5 yr old.

Re: 5.5 year old suddenly resisting bedtime. Help! (kinda long)

I have a child the same age. No video games at all during the week, and cut screen time to a show or 2 a day. You may want to speak with his teacher to be sure everything is ok. Try putting him to bed earlier as well. Mine must be in bed before 8, or the next day is no good

Re: 5.5 year old suddenly resisting bedtime. Help! (kinda long)