The Search for Bedtime Tranquility (Introduction)

Ugh! Not now! Not this again…The dreaded bedtime. If you have kids who do not believe that sleep is a priority, navigating the bedtime routine can be a challenge. This part of our day has a whole list of “those things” or “oh Geez” moments. Think about bedtime in your house. Does it run smoothly? Do the kids brush their teeth and put on their pajamas with just a simple reminder? Are they able to pick out a book, listen to the story and go to bed without a fuss? Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Bedtime can be like this. Patience, consistency, and a good behavior point system combined with a routine bedtime schedule can take the nightmare out of bedtime. Patience is needed to learn and teach the necessary prerequisite skills to perform the tasks mentioned above. Consistency is needed while practicing these new skills repeatedly. A point system, like PopChart.Family, can be used in combination with patience, consistency and a routine bedtime schedule, to create a calm and peaceful environment in which kids can fall asleep with a smile on their faces.

We are going to break this bedtime series into three sections plus a conclusion that will tie it all together. In the first section we will be talking about prerequisite skills needed to perform the requested task, how to determine this and what we will need to teach to fill in the gaps. In the second section we will look at how to develop a schedule for a healthy bedtime routine. Last but not least we will discuss how a great behavior point system such as PopChart.Family can help you get the peaceful evenings you crave.

The Search for Bedtime Tranquility series:

• Introduction
• Part 1 — Do they really know what to do?
• Part 2 — How to develop a schedule for a healthy bedtime routine
• Part 3 — Let PopChart help you get the peaceful evenings you crave

About the Author

Anita Licklider has a MS in Educational Management, credentials in special education, general education, counseling and School Psychology. She has over thirty years of experience working with children in and outside the educational setting.

She has done individual and group counseling with kids from 4 years to 16 years old.

Anita also developed and implemented behavior intervention plans for special education and general education students and families. She advocated for kids writing IEP and 504 plans for the school districts.