9 yr old and bedtime

My DD is 9 and I am getting so frustrated with bedtime. She is such a mature, smart girl who is well behaved but bedtime is getting to be rediculous lol.

She becomes very babyish and needy and doesn't listen. In my opinion I feel she is too old for this. At her age I feel she should complete her bedtime routine (brush, read, a little ipad time) and say good night end of story. Instead we have to tell her 5 times to go brush, go get your pajamas on, go get in bed with your book etc. Than once shes done with everything above its Mommy, daddy, etc come into my room, I want another hug, etc. Last night I lost it because I feel like I have no down time at night because this can go on until 10:00 sometimes.

Believe me I give her plenty of affection at night, we lay together etc but it can still carry on for a good half hour after that. Any thoughts ? We have tried charts, lists, etc. Thx.

Re: 9 yr old and bedtime

I do a reminder countdown. She has to be in bed by 9pm. I start at 8pm reminding that she has 1 hour left until bed. Then 30 min, 15 min and bedtime.
She has learned to use that hour countdown to get everything she needs done or else she's rushed right into bed. No excuses.

Re: 9 yr old and bedtime

Is she an only child? Have you asked her why she keeps asking you back in? I wonder if maybe she’s afraid at night (dark, night terrors etc) and that’s causing her to want to stay up with you later and later. My DS is almost 9, and some nights when he just isn’t tired or possibly over tired he acts like this, but it’s maybe 1x a week if that. But my DD who is 7, used to do this last year, and it was bc she was afraid of clowns (kids in school talking about the clown sightings). Once we talked it out, she hasn’t done it since.

Re: 9 yr old and bedtime

Re: 9 yr old and bedtime

9 yr old and bedtime

We have that here. DD is always afraid DH & I are doing something and she is missing out. It's gotten a little better since school started because the bus comes really early and she has to get out of bed a full 30 minutes earlier than every other year.

Re: 9 yr old and bedtime

Oh boy...I've been going through this with my 8 yr old boy right now and it's exhausting. I've done a lot of what has been mentioned and some nights it works, others, not so much. I just keep trucking along because eventually it has to stick, right?
Hang in there - I'll be thinking of you tonight!

Re: 9 yr old and bedtime

My DD can be like this once in awhile. It’s pretty much when she can’t settle for some reason or doesn’t feel tired enough for bed. I let her play in her bed which pretty much solves the problem because it winds her down and she’s usually asleep within 20 minutes. She knows she can play with her shopkins or dolls, something reasonable. She also can read more or draw. It really does the trick. I feel like taking the pressure off of falling asleep is the key. I just tell her that she’ll fall asleep when her body is ready.

Message edited 10/24/2017 9:23:57 PM.

Re: 9 yr old and bedtime

9 yr old and bedtime

my son is 8 and goes to bed at 8...8:30 on weekends. he tries to negotiate a later bedtime with me, but i know he needs it. at 7:45 i warn him he has 15 minutes. he tries to futz around but i'm very strict about bedtime and he knows not to mess with me lol mama needs her alone time