It’s Working!

March 9, 2010

We’ve been having trouble getting adorable #1 to bed at night. The Running Man and I take turns every other night and it is often a multi-hour ordeal. He’s not terrible, but he just won’t go to sleep, despite our best efforts to wipe him out during the day.

The Running Man and I sat down to make sure we had the same procedures come bedtime. Bath and teeth, followed by books and then lights out. We came up with some strategies that we would both use if Plan A didn’t produce sleep. The logic was, if our approach was consistent, our adorable would eventually quit trying all the funny business and just go to sleep.

Around the same time, I went to a discipline workshop at our preschool looking for some ideas. The speaker provided some sound advice on many different issues that parents were having but what really stuck with me was the mantra,

“Reward the behavior you would like repeated.”

This, I later realized, is perhaps the over-arching answer to any problem you are having with your adorables (or anyone, as I think of it).

So I immediately put these reward charts into play…

Really anything that you’d like your adorables to practice warrants the reward chart. In our home, adorable #1 gets stickers for clean-up and a good bedtime routine. Adorable #2, who is only 2 1/2 and doesn’t fully understand (or frankly care about) the sticker concept, receives them for clean-up. This type of reward cards are available in any teacher store or office supply store that has a teacher aisle.

When the chart is full, the adorables receive a special treat, sometimes a very small toy, or a special outing. Because he has the opportunity to receive 2 stickers/day, he’s on track to finish his card about every 12-13 days, so plan the reward accordingly.

Whatever the reward, the collecting of stickers is WORKING! We haven’t had a multi-hour bedtime marathon in a long time, and clean-up is often initiated by them to get their stickers.

Since his card was full, we made a very special outing to a huge indoor play area nearby:

Kid heaven!

And needless to say, bedtime was a breeze after this place…

“Reward the behavior you would like repeated.”

What type of reward systems do you have in place in your home? What’s worked for you?

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Category: Wondermom Resources
Tags: bedtime, Reward charts |

7 Comments »

Whitney Trujillo
on March 9, 2010 1:05 pm
Great idea! My guy is still a little young, but I can’t wait to try it out!
Kim
on March 9, 2010 11:31 pm
We have a “chores” sheet for each of the kids that they fill out for the whole week. (Make Bed, Brush Teeth, Clean Room, Feed Frogs, Dinner Help, Be Happy) Then on Sunday they get their “Commission”. (5 one dollar bills) They each have a Commission folder and have to divide their money into 3 categories…Spending, Giving and Savings. We adopted the idea from Dave Ramsey and have loved it. The kids have little calculators and notepads to keep track of what they have in each category and they make wish lists for their “Spending” and use their “Giving” at church or for donations at school. Obviously, the kids need to be a little older to do this, but mine are 4 and 6 and are totally on board.
Heidi Farmer
on March 10, 2010 1:40 pm
Kim, I love this idea! What a great way to get your kids thinking about handling money at such a young age. I also keep hearing about Dave Ramsey – perhaps I’m the last one alive who doesn’t know about him – but it’s clear I need to check him out! Thanks much.
Caryn
on March 11, 2010 4:24 pm
Do you think a reward chart would work for sleeping in???? We’re getting up way too early lately!
Heidi Farmer
on March 11, 2010 4:29 pm
Yes! When they play quietly in their room until 7 (?), without waking up mommy or daddy, they get a sticker! Can’t hurt to try!
Lynsi G
on March 12, 2010 8:39 pm
For sleeping in, the Good Nite Lite (www.goodnitelite.com) worked wonders with my oldest who was waking up at 5 a.m. every morning. You simply set the wake up time and the night light changes from a moon to a sunshine so they know it is okay for them to get out of bed. If my son wakes up before the “sun is up” he knows to simply read books in his bed until the light changes. Usually he just goes back to sleep now. It’s great!! Stickers would probably work, too, though. My son will do just about anything for a sticker. 🙂
Heidi Farmer
on March 14, 2010 5:00 pm
What a great idea!