Out of their room past bedtime? NO reminders from parents!! This is a great opportunity to teach punctuality! 7:00 pm for young kids (they need 10 to 12 hours of sleep when they are growing). 8:00 pm for older kids (they need home work, reading or winding down time). Consequences for draining your energy or taking your time away from spouse is to give back time one extra chore for every minute the child is late to bed.

After he is up ten to twenty minutes late, calmly ask, “Did I remember to tell you that you owe one free chore for every minute you are up late?” Bedtime means in their room and quiet. They get in bed and tum out the light when they feel tired, whatever hour that may be.

NO parental interference. YOU cannot make them go to sleep. Don’t try. You will lose! Let them learn to listen to their bodies and put themselves to sleep when it is needed. This is good to learn before they go off to college! They should be good at it by five or six years old. Before that they often need to be tucked in with a bedtime ritual (bath, reading or back rub, etc.)

New research has shown that light around us when we are sleeping keeps us from going into a deep enough sleep. The light from nightlights, street lights or even moonlight shining in the window must be eliminated.

The child should not be put in their room in the daytime for more than 30 minutes twice a day unless there is an emergency or the child is ill. They can’t bond to you in another room.

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