Jennifer has three kids, and her youngest–the 2-year-old–won’t sleep through the night. She goes to sleep with no trouble, but every night she’ll come into her parents’ room in the middle of the night and join them in their bed. Between homeschooling the boys and running a business, Jennifer and her husband need sleep, so this isn’t a sustainable practice.

Today, we talk about a potential solution for Jennifer and her husband: setting up a sleeping bag in the bedroom as a compromise. We discuss what seems to be behind this behavior and talk about the importance of clearness when setting new boundaries. We discuss the importance of letting your child know that it’s okay to feel how she feels and that you understand, as well as refraining from snuggling with or singing to her when she comes in and you need to put her back to bed.

“You can’t force your kid to fall asleep, you can’t force feed them, and you can’t force them to use the potty…They will always win, no matter what, with those three things. And so the more you understand how they’re feeling and how you can work around it to make everybody happy and make it work for everyone, the better off it’ll be.” – Sue Groner

This week on The Parenting Mentor:

• The importance of letting your child know you understand how she’s feeling
• Why it’s okay to compromise with your child sometimes
• Being clear about boundaries

Meet the Parenting Mentor

If you want to reduce the everyday Stress and Anxiety that inevitably come with parenting and learn to be a happier and more relaxed parent, then this is the place for you.

Here, you can listen in on real sessions with parents who open up about the specific challenges they face with children from 2 to 22. Listen along and gain perspectives and strategies to help you parent with sanity and joy.

Visit theparentingmentor.com for notes on this show, more episodes, and all the ways to subscribe, and don’t forget to pick up my book, Parenting with Sanity and Joy: 101 Simple Strategies, which includes my Nine Golden Rules of Parenting.

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Susan G. Groner Founder of The Parenting Mentor, Author, Podcaster

As an experienced mother of 2 young adults, Sue Groner knows how stressful and overwhelming parenting can be at times. She founded The Parenting Mentor to provide an ally for parents in their quest to raise confident and resilient children. Sue is the author of Parenting with Sanity and Joy. 101 Simple Strategies, is the host of The Parenting Mentor Sessions Podcast, and is a certified Positive Discipline parent educator.

Sue is also the creator of the CLEARR method of parenting, developed through years of trial (and her fair share of errors!) with her own family. CLEARR adheres to the belief that parenting strategies should be grounded in six important pillars: Communication, Love, Empathy, Awareness, Rules, and Respect. This has become the cornerstone of her practice as The Parenting Mentor.

A graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a former advertising executive, Sue is a frequent guest expert on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox to name a few, and provides advice for many national publications and websites such as The Wall Street Journal, Parents, Real Simple, Today.com, HuffPost, and Katie Couric Media. Sue resides in New York City and Bedford, NY with her husband, and when she’s lucky, with her children. She is available for private and group mentorship sessions(in-person or virtual) nationwide for individuals and corporations.