Camping In with NO 'head on bed' rule

If you are uneasy or unable to follow through with consequence of leaving your child's room if their head is off the bed, you can use Camping In with no rule. With this strategy, if your child sits up or gets our of bed, you simply ignore their behavior and stay seated silently in the chair. As you might imagine this can be VERY tough on parents depending on the child's behavior, but can be effective when done consistently. Eventually your child will tire of trying to get your attention when they see that it isn't working and they will fall asleep.

Things to know:

• You must stay seated as "Sleepy Mommy/Daddy" - no talking, emotion, eye contact, picking up, tucking in, kissing, hand holding, etc.
• Accept that this can be very tough and may take a long time. But if you are consistent, and do not break character, it can work.
• If you (and any co-parent) are 100% consistent, it can be effective.
• This is not taught as one of the primary strategies in the course because it can be very taxing on parents and often leads to parents being worn down and eventually giving - either losing their temper or giving the child extra comfort. If this happens, it strengthens the child's resolve and can increase bedtime resistance; so it's important that this is done consistently in order to be effective.