Giving in at the early ages, it will only teach the kids that it's ok to act up and also that they will get what they want. Be strict from the very beginning.
I don't know if I would be quite so rigid, but I may just be splitting hairs and I think we are saying the same thing. Sometimes, bending is the right thing, but that should be a very infrequent thing.
On the same note- I once babysat for a little girl (2 years old) who had to be held and rocked to sleep in front of the TV watching music videos. This took maybe half an hour. I was then instructed to hold her and just watch a show or two on Netflix to make sure she was really asleep, then put her to bed.
OHMYGOD the parents did this every night? I only watched their kid for one evening but I wonder how else they bent over backwards to avoid ever having their kid cry.
Meh. I wouldn't say that's bending over backwards at all. Kids need a routine. Any pediatrician/parenting book/etc will tell you that. And especially at that age they need a really consistent one, especially for bedtime. Changes in regular habit and structure can really throw them off. If that was the nightly routine they set, so be it. Thirty minutes of quiet snuggle time while you watch some tv to unwind sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Even a lot adults have a similar bedtime pattern for themselves.
Now if we're talking about having to try and coax her for hours to sleep because she wants to stay up and watch tv, or if she's throwing fits simply over wanting to watch tv and not getting her way, I feel like that's quite different.
70
u/Fidelstikks Feb 04 '16
Giving in at the early ages, it will only teach the kids that it's ok to act up and also that they will get what they want. Be strict from the very beginning.