Moms Council: Bed Time

Moms Talk is part of a North Andover Patch initiative to reach out to moms and families.

North Andover Patch invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in North Andover.

Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions.

This week's question: How do you enforce bedtimes? Or do you just wait for the kids to become tired on their own? Any tips for dealing with kids who just won't sleep at night?

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Michele Gorham: You know, I really lucked out with my oldest. All she needs is a gentle nudge towards the bed and she is good to go. Okay, okay, maybe not every night, but for the most part.

The little one I feel as though has fallen into a good bedtime ritual; scream, cry, whine her way to bed. Beg for "just one more book, mommy" (four or five books later). Call out from her bedroom for random things -- a hug, a glass of water, questions about when we are going to Disney Land -- for about 20 minutes. Then out cold....until about 3 a.m. when she tries to creep into our bed unnoticed.  Maybe not the best ritual in the world, but start it early enough and by 8 the kiddos are sleeping.

The way I see it, the kids go down (however painful it may seem at the time) and get good sleep. All it takes is an astronomical amount of patience and consistency and eventually (I hope) it will become less and less painful.

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OUR MOMS COUNCIL

Wendy Bulawa Agudelo -- Wendy is the mother to three young children (5 and under) — including a set of twin boys. In her spare time, she is an avid features writer covering a broad array of parenting topics from special needs to travel with infants. During the day, she earns her stripes as an entrepreneur, operating both a public relations consultancy as well as a targeted theme gift basket business, Period Packs, which celebrates a young girl's foray into womanhood.

Michele Gorham -- Michele is the wife of a Methuen firefighter and mother of two little girls. As the owner of Cookie Central, she is an avid supporter of Share Our Strength and a community leader for MerchantCircle.