How to Win the Bedtime Wars

Okay, your kids just won't go to bed as told, how about reading something from an expert in this area and try it out, who knows you may just get your desired result this time

Are your children fighting you tooth and nail when it is time for them to go to bed?
Are you pulling your hair out and feel you have no options left?
Learn the simple secrets to restoring peace in your home and regain your sanity.

Things You'll Need:
Self Control
Patience
Persistence

Step 1
First thing that you must acknowledged is that you have to be the one in control, even when the children have seem to all gone mad. You must also know that this is going to take some hard work on your part but if you stick to it, you will have a totally new peaceful environment for everyone involved. You'll have a happier home.

Now, from this point on, you can not lose your temper. Always keep your composure no matter what. When the children see that you are not reacting they will get tired of acting in a demanding, whining, battling rage.

Before we get to what your actually going to do, you need to know that infants and children are different and therefore I will give you directions on how to go about handling each one.

Step 2
We will start with infants who don't want to sleep in their crib. Make a bedtime routine for your infant. Give your baby a bath, rub him/her down with lotion and finally give your baby a bottle or breastfeed before putting him/her down for the night.

Lay your baby down into the crib. Turn the lights out and sit down next to the crib. (Note: be prepared to listen to your baby cry and maybe scream and even say your name several times.) This is the hard part. When your sitting next to the crib, do not look at your baby, even if he/she is calling for you. Stay calm, you are teaching your little one to learn to calm and soothe themselves. This will work if you don't cave in. If you find you can't bear the sound of your baby's cry, wear ear plugs, or listen to an mp3 player.

When your child finally starts to settle down, move about a foot away from the crib, towards the door. Wait for about ten minutes and if there is no reaction from your baby, continue to keep moving a foot closer to the door. When your baby is finally asleep, you can then get up and leave the room.

This whole process will take up to 45 minutes each night. But, if you stay consistent, your child will fall asleep on his/her own without any help from you.

Now, on to your older children. The ones that throw temper tantrums and keep getting out of bed and whatever else they do just to avoid going to bed.

Again, make a bedtime routine, baths, have the last snack of the night and finally read a bedtime story. Take your child to his/her bed, give night time kisses and hugs, and tuck them into bed and tell them goodnight, its time to go to sleep now. Walk out of the room and close the door.If your child gets up out of bed, put your child back into bed and tell them it is time to go to bed and tell them goodnight once again. (Now you'll hear the crying and kicking and screaming.) Stay calm, just ignore this. They will probably tell you they hate you, but don't take that personally. What they really hate is that they know they lost control of you.

If your child gets up again, this time, take him/her back to bed, tuck him/her in and tell them goodnight one last time. Now, the third time your child gets up out of bed, you must stay in control and what I mean by that is you must not show any anger. Keep a straight face, no angry looks, no happy looks, just a blank face. Put your child back into bed, but this time, don't say anything, not a word.

Step 3
You'll continue to do this until your child exhausts him/herself. After about a couple of nights of this, your child will break down, knowing they aren't calling the shots anymore and they will know that bedtime is just that, bedtime.So, in the end, the simple secret formula is you must keep your self control, be persistent with your rules, and have patience because this does work.

Enjoy your peaceful nights!
by sunrizedreamer

...and remeber this, it is not over until you win...have a nice day

How to Keep Kids Excited About Their Chore Chart in Three Easy Steps

Every parent knows the feeling of possibility when they set up a new chore program and the kids get to work. The first days and weeks of a new routine are wonderful: chores get done, kids don't grumble, the household comes together smoothly. More often than not, though, even the best chore programs lose their punch and kids get tired of them. Here are three surefire ways to keep your chore chart exciting and motivational, so that reminding your kids to do their chores doesn't become one of yours.

1) Make the Chart Together
If your kids are involved in the chore program process from the very beginning, they'll be more excited. They will know everything involved right from the get-go, and they'll also feel more powerful and responsible over their own duties and schedule. Consult on chores together, pick rewards and outline consequences with your kids. They'll feel more ownership over their new routine as a result.

2) Create Consequences
To lend your new chore chart maximum impact, make sure there are consequences. There should be a built-in consequence for not doing chores - like the loss of a favorite privilege - but there should also be a reward for staying on top of tasks. Don't forget, reward can be a great motivator. Just make sure you pick a reward that you feel comfortable giving time after time. Rewarding kids at the beginning of a chore program but stopping the practice later won't keep them excited. Great reward ideas: movie outings, allowance, picking one chore a week to skip.

3) Mix It Up
Routine breeds complacency, especially the kind of household routine that kids would rather skip. Instead of dropping a perfectly good and reasonable chore program once interest in it wanes, don't give up quite so easily. Change up your chore chart by shuffling tasks around from child to child, switching the days you expect the tasks to get done and introducing new tasks as your child's level of responsibility grows. Make sure you don't overwhelm your kids: don't introduce five new tasks without taking any away. And, just as you did when you first created your chore charts, include your brood in the process... they'll get that excited feeling all over again.

The easy, fun and customizable chore chart tools at Handipoints.com chore charts help parents and kids "Make Fun of Work!" With Handipoints and HandiLand, the virtual world, just for kids, parents can sit down with their kids to create a fun chore chart, set up rewards and demerits for motivation and easily edit their printable chore charts to keep chores fresh as a breeze!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Kole