Fess up, parents. Can you honestly say you've never given in to a kid's demands in a bedtime battle?
If not, you're hardly alone. In a survey of 3,000 parents in the Britain, 1 in 5 moms and dads confessed to bribing their kids to bed, the Daily Mail reports.
The survey, conducted by Munch Bunch, a Nestlé-owned kids' snack brand, is no doubt an attempt to promote its bedtime storytelling competition. But the results are telling all the same.
Among the bribing parents:
• 28 per cent let their kids watch "a bit more" TV
• 17 per cent promised a later bedtime on the weekend
• 6 per cent bribed their munchkins with sweets
Kate Evans, mother of two sons, aged 4 and 8, is quoted as saying that bedtime "can be a real nightmare, a constant battle of wills," and "it's often easier just to give in to their demands and let them watch television or play games for a little longer."
Faced with constant whining and crying, some exasperated parents resort to dosing their kids with melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone. The tactics would likely get thumbs-down from the Mayo Clinic, which recommends establishing a consistent routine, turning down the volume in the house and insisting that kids stay in their rooms at bedtime.
Sure, it's reasonable advice for reasonable kids. But what about so-called "spirited children" who turn bedtime into a witching hour?
Does this nightly scenario sound all too familiar? What lengths have you gone to get your kids to bed (melatonin, anyone)?