How long should we let our child cry it out?

My partner has been letting my nearly 3year old go to sleep with the telly on every night for about two weeks. (I was on nights) I put her to bed as usual. Unplugged everything, she will not calm down unless the telly is on. I let her cry it out for 30 mins. Then thought it might be a night light thing, so tried that. Tried laying in her bed with her. She just wants telly; I lasted 4 hours before giving in, within 20 minutes of the damn telly on she was asleep I feel like a failure already, and it’s only been a few days, Iv a six-month-old also so I can’t keep doing this every night as its disrupting her sleep too.

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Choose your battles. Turn the television off when she falls asleep. It sounds like it’s just a routine she’s in and it makes her feel secure. My youngest likes to listen to night time songs.
I have never let my children cry it out. Therefore, I won’t be able to understand. I just don’t think this should be made into such a traumatic experience. ((Hugs)) Good Luck mama!

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First I think you need to recognize and own your OWN limitations. Whats your strong suit? Dealing with 4+hrs of tantrums every night is just not ideal and puts tremendous stress on every one and if you know you cant put up that kind of fight EVERY SINGLE NIGHT (who would want to!) Then thTs totally fine. Maybe try a noise machine with or without lights? A radio? My 7yr old has sensory issues but I’ve never allowed a TV. So far hes okay with Christmas lights and a fan going at full blast so it’s not completely silent. Just an idea- whichever route you take, be confident with your decision and if TV doesn’t sit right with you dont allow it.

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Honestly we still do this with my 3 year old :woman_shrugging:t2: he crashes before a show is even over. I’ve fallen asleep with my TV since coming home from Deployment because I can’t sleep without noise now so he probably got it from me.

Maybe instead of forcing her to go cold Turkey. Try slowly introducing a new routine. So that way she has the chance to adjust. Not just all the sudden I have to lay in the dark and sleep. I’ve got some ideas if you’d like to talk about it more

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Get a TV with a timer on it. You can set by 15min. or 3 hours. Turn it on and get some rest it’s win- win situation.

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We use a noise machine or now have a monitor that plays music with a timer

You can try a night light that moves and white noise machine. That’s how my little one falls asleep. It’s more of a distraction thing

Try quiet music instead with a night light.

Have you tried a white noise machine & a lava lamp? Might just need sounds n bright colors to help self regulate.

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You can get a timer to plug the tv into for cheap… Im 60 and love my tv on… Calms me

I let my son have the tv on so no help but I would set the timer at that age bc my son would stay up and watch them at that age but now he’s older he goes to sleep

I use a fan, I also read story than lay down with my son until he falls asleep. Perhaps all she needs is some white noise and you close?

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My children are not going to railroad me with temper tantrums to get what they want. That’s ridiculous. And when a boundary is set by you, you cannot give in…or you automatically handed them the power. Children are not capable of making healthy choices for themselves, which is why parents need to be consistent and teach them the things they need to learn and help them build good character…which humans are NOT inherently born with. My children are not going to run my house. End of story.

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My 3 and 7 year old daughters get the tv at night. They are in their beds at 7pm, in their own rooms and that’s their down time. My 7 year olds timer is set for 30min on school nights. My 3 year old is set for 60min. Once the tv shuts off they go to bed. 99% of the time they are asleep before the timer shuts the tv off. It gives me and my husband time to lay in bed and watch tv.

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Set it on a timer. Let her know she gets 30 mins. When it shuts off it cause the tv had to go night night.

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Try a white noise machine or a radio?

I will be honest I let my kids cry while I listened at the shut door. Tv hyped them up and other things were over stimulating. I would go in if there were any distresss concerns, calm then make sure they were ok and again left and listened. The timer could be an idea but if it shuts off before she is asleep she will start crying again more than likely. Music and white noise might work if it doesn’t hype them. Yes lullabies can hype up a child on occasion. Like I said mine had to learn to self calm. If I were in there for extended periods they wanted to play with toys, talk, etc. We also instilled a bed time routine, book, snuggles, last checks, then bed. Once the routine was established firmly and the self calm was established (about 1-2 weeks) no more bedtime or going to sleep issues.

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Leave it on ,what is it hurting? I never sent mine( iv got six) to bed even on school nights, they came sat down and in ten minutes where out, no crying for an hour , lighten up its ok

So you would rather her scream and cry for over a half hour than letting her watch tv and fall asleep within 20 mins?? Poor baby #ParentingFail

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