oh, that back-to-bed technique is the BEST.

I’m totally for co-sleeping as needed/wanted… but when I was more than ready and I knew my oldest son was ready to move to his own bed full-time, I was nervous about doing it in a calm manner that wouldn’t create tons of tears and be harsh.

I HAPPENED to turn on the tv two weeks before my deadline (self-imposed that I was gonna figure out a plan by then and do it… because I was revolving it around shows he watched that had episodes where they showed the child sleeping alone in their own bed in their own room and stuff) and see the first episode that Jo Frost taught this technique and I tivo’d the episode… watched it repeatedly.

Since my son has Aspergers, showing him what we would be doing, and then fast forwarding to the smiling boy going to bed on his own, and talking about his shows and how those kids (big boys) went to bed really helped.. it only took us one night of doing it to get into the routine.

After that, while we’ve had disagreements about bedtime, he stayed in his bed or would simply need told… you’re a big boy and sleep in your own bed… go back to bed.

We have absolutely used Supernanny techniques! I love her show and have her first book also. With our son (now 4) we had to use the back-to-bed technique for months until he finally stopped popping out of his room at bedtime and sometimes during the night. I also use the Naughty Rug. I refuse to use Time-Out because I think a child should know they are being punished and not just being given “time to cool off.” Our kids were good to start with but to handle the inevitable testing that kids will do to you, the Supernanny techniques are awesome.

I think that’s how come these techniques have become so popular – they’re non-confrontational parenting skills which are easy to remember and just become all the more effective with consistent use.
When my preschooler started wanting to be fed again when my new baby came along, I didn’t have the time or the energy for a stand-off every meal, so I drew out a quick Placemat Reward Chart which I saw they’ve used quite often on the show and it worked within days. It was a relief for me and him to have clear-cut boundaries and we didn’t have to keep it up for more than a week before things were back to normal. What won’t a four year old do for a Spiderman sticker, seriously?!