6 funny ways my kid tries to avoid sleeping

My kid has some right funny ways of avoiding sleep. Trying to get a three year old to go to bed without too much aggravation is, well frankly, futile. The ways my daughter has tried to get out of bedtime has had me laughing so many times. Here are a collection of her best sleep-shunning techniques. 

1. One time I heard her jumping in her bed. I got up to her room, told her in a stern voice "Go to sleep, head on the pillow, NOW!". To which she responded by closing her eyes, walking in circles in her cot-bed and said back to me "Mummy, I'm sleep walking!". 

Honestly, I could not handle it - I totally cracked up and giggled for a long time afterwards. 

2. Quite a few times she has also had these weird and random rambling play sessions in bed. I think we have given her a few too many soft toys to cuddle in her bed. So one night, instead of going to her room to tell her off I decided to sit outside her room and listen in. And this is what I wrote down.  

"Bunny, what are you doing? It is dangerous, I said it many times. Bad behaviour bunny!"

"I'm going to be scared, I'm a little bunny."

"Oh no I'm happy. Oh no I'm not angry, I'm not mean. I'm very friendly to you. Be quiet, here is your pop corn."

"Nam nam nam. More!"

"Here's pop corn for you."

"Did you eat my pop corn? Oh no my favourite pop corn."

"What have you eaten? My pop corn!"

"Oh no that's not good, we have to get some more from the shops Skye."

"I can come"
"Here is pop corn."

"Umnononom"

"Thanks you"

"Here's a cake from me Chase."

"Um nononnom nom"

And just to give you guys a bit of back ground - pop corn is possible her favourite food, and she is a big fan of both Paw Patrol (Chase and Skye are two main characters) and bunnies.

3. One recent gem happened as I put her to bed. She closed her eyes like a good girl, was under the duvet, relaxed. And suddenly she opened her eyes and smiled. I asked her "Why are you not sleeping? You need to sleep now". To which she said "I already slept. It's morning! Time to get uuuuup!". Yep. I tried keep a straight face while trying to sternly tell her it is her bedtime now... Guess how well that went? 

4. She quite often likes to sing to herself, and we get a rendition of a random selection of nursery songs, and sometimes slightly skewed lyrics. Such as 

"Too many Skye's, jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped her head,

Aili called the doctor and the doctor said:

No more pups jumping on the bed"

5. Guilt tripping is a speciality of hers. We have heard it all so far. There has been the fake tears and the fake wailing, which are quite easy to distinguish from real honest sad crying and wailing. It is the pauses. The little pauses between sobs which are for listening what the parental response is. And if there is no parental response there might be a bit of an increase in intensity by adding phrases such as "Why doesn't my mummy hear me? I miss my mummy!" or "Why is my daddy not coming to me? I love him."

6. And perhaps the sweetest one of them all has been the times when she just does not want to go to bed, and just wants that one more kiss. That one more cuddle. When she, after being given cuddles, being put to bed, having been read a story and sang a song, goes for the one more cuddle before bed time.

This happens usually as I close the door and I am about to go down the steps I hear a little voice shouting "I need a kiss mummy! You didn't cuddle me, I want a cuddle!". 

It is just one of those little request, no matter how much she needs to go to bed, I just can't refuse. Seriously, could you? 

How do your kids try avoid going to sleep? Any similar techniques?

You might also like: Our little baby piggy, Funny things my 3 year old has been saying recently, The favourite word of a 2 year old: No

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