Bedtime Excuses... and ways to win the bedtime battle

Is your child a bedtime staller? Sometimes the excuses kids come up with are hilarious, but other times they are enough to drive a parent to the brink of insanity. We all need quiet time to ourselves at the end of the day. Am I right?

I recently asked some of my readers to share some of the excuses their kids have used to stay up later, and here is what they had to say...

"Mommy my eyes aren't tired yet, and sissy needs to go to bed before I do 'cause she's a baby." (from Katie R.)

"My hair hurts. I can't feel my ears. Are you sure it's bedtime, the time changed?" (from Jill W.)

"I didn't feed the rats!" (from Jaymie M.)
My youngest's favorite excuse is, "I had a bad dream." Though the fact that he says it two seconds after I leave the room, and before he has fallen asleep, leads me to believe that he is not being 100% honest with me.

My middle son likes to come downstairs because he "needs an extra kiss", which I know is an excuse to get up and check the score of the hockey game on TV, but I let him get away with it because... what mom can resist a kiss from her son?

My oldest, who also likes to come downstairs to get a peak at the score of the hockey game, can often be heard using the excuse, "I need to put my book in my backpack".

In addition to these tried and true reasons for avoiding bedtime, my boys are big fans of the "just one more show" excuse... and now I have a solution.

Netflix and DreamWorks Animation just launched Dinotrux Favorites, an entire episode of the latest hit all in a nice little 5-minute package -- letting your little negotiator think they’re getting away with the age-old ‘just five more minutes’ ploy. Clever, right?

Which category of bedtime staller do you have? I think my boys fall into a lot of these categories.

In addition to this new solution from Netflix, I have also found it helpful to make sure bedtime follows a consistent routine and to provide adequate time to unwind before bed. Bedtime stories are key in this house! What works with your bedtime stallers? Do they have some hilarious excuses you'd like to share? Leave them below so that I can take a look.

♥ 

Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Disclosure: As part of the Netflix #StreamTeam, I am given special perks and gifts, but all opinions in this blog our 100% my own.