If you have a child who is older than five or six, you might be able
to use charting to encourage him or her to stay in bed. If you are using
charting with bedtime, however, you cannot tell the child right away
how he did, because if he does really well, he won’t be awake.
Therefore, there will be a long delay—until the next morning—before
he finds out how you rated him. But charting can still work, so keep it
in mind.
Nighttime Waking
Some kids wake up during the night, make a little noise, and go right
back to sleep. No problem! Other children may go through stages
where they present themselves at your bedside in the middle of the
night with a vague request for assistance. This can sometimes happen
as many as a dozen or more times per night. Big problem!
Nighttime problems are among the hardest to handle, because in
the middle of the night most parents aren’t quite in their right minds
—and neither are their kids. It can also be very aggravating to be
awakened from a sound sleep, making it more difficult for you to
respond appropriately.
When our daughter was seven, she went through a phase in which
she would appear at our bedside in the middle of the night. When we
would ask what the problem was, she would say something
nonsensical, such as “The elephant ran away.” Of course, at 2:00 a.m.
you’re not thinking clearly either, so we would respond with
something equally ridiculous, such as “Well, where did he go?” These
strange episodes went on for several months until we worked out the
nighttime waking procedure that I’m about to describe.