Posted by Tiffany in Being Mama, Prayse | 4 Comments
Well, that clears that up
We have had an incredibly difficult time getting Prayse to sleep through the night. It’s been months and months of her waking up freaking out during the night. At times inconsolable for an hour or more. So we decided last week a couple of things:
1. TV time is being limited. We usually watch something in the morning while getting ready b/c she is sooo not a morning person these days and it makes life easier.
2. No . More. “Bad. Guys.” We’ve gotten too lax on what she is watching. Seriously DORA even YOU. You are supposed to be a model for Preschoolers and there are witches! Yeah, they end up being friends in the end but they are still witches they are bad, they are being “mean.”
Since we’ve made these changes and made bedtime more consistent this week has been fabulous! She has slept through the night two full nights – I can’t even tell you what that means.
Last night we were at friends’ watching fireworks that while Prayse did not completely freak out like last year she did walk around all night with her hands in her ears. So while we had a couple of freak outs last night she was fast asleep, crying, with her hands over her ears. Poor boo.
I hate that she was upset, but I do know that she was having nightmares based on what she was exposed to on tv. So no more Dora (unless we’ve watched it before and know what the story is about), no more Swan Princess, and definitely not as much TV. PBS Kids with their Curious George, Super Why, and Sid the Science Kid.
I’ll take this as a Parent Learning Lesson – gheesh, no guilt here… or not.
Read Nurture Shock. There’s a section that says that shows for kids spend 23 minutes showing a bad behavior, and then spend 2-3 minutes “correcting” it. So, the kids end up absorbing all the bad. AND, they are more aggressive than the kids that aren’t watching the kid shows. It’s a really interesting and informative book:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0446504122/?tag=andandco-20
I’m definitely doing to check out that book Andria! Thank you!!
She’s chilling watching Sid the Science Kid right now, a much better choice for us I think.
I have noticed that about kid shows. I think it depends on the kid and she clearly needed to watch something else.
What a blessing it is that such a simple change has made her feel more secure and better in general!
Great job mama!
We experienced some similar circumstances with Jared when he was young. He would wake up crying, not really awake but very disoriented. His symptoms were classic signs of “night terrors”. I took some suggestions from the internet, beginning with an earlier bed-time and routine. We were very lucky — that in itself seemed to take care of the problem.