Bedtime Battles

Hey! I am going though the same thing, in fact, while I am writing this my daughter just walked into the bathroom, went pee, and walked back to her room. :-)
What's really working for us is letting her sit up in bed and look at 3 or four books for about 20 minutes, then we come in, take them, and tell her good night. Usually, that works well, but every once in awhile she pulls the potty thing. I tell her fine, just tell me when you are done. I let her sit there and refuse to go in there with her. Yes, the first three or four times she sat there for almost an hour, but because I didn't make a fuss out of it she now will just go and walk back into her room and lay down. This process took about two weeks, but really works for my daughter. I understand the frustration though.
Hopefully this, or something will work for her soon! IT drives ya batty! Good luck!

N.

L.-
I put the potty chair in my daughter's room so then she does not have that excuse anymore. If she has a BM she can call you to come and get her to wipe her. It stopped my daughter's excuse to stay up.
Brekka

HA! My daughter attempts to do this now. I say attempt because I don't put up with it. Before bed I have my daughter go to the potty and brush her teeth. Then she goes to bed and if she tries to tell me that she has to go to the bathroom I remind her that she just went and she's not using it as an excuse to get up. If she persists (and I know she has already gone) I tell her she is not getting out of bed and if she pees in the bed she will be in trouble. Now, if she didn't go before brushing her teeth she has 2 minutes on the potty to go and if she doesn't or tries to stay longer I pick her up, remove her from the potty, and put her back in bed. She's never once wet the bed (and never used pull ups while sleeping either). It's not only taught her that she's not going to win in this power struggle, but that the potty is not a game and will not be used as one. It sounds kind of harsh, but it works :)

She's looking for attention. So I'd try putting the potty chair in her bedroom, thus she has no excuses for being in bed. And she can call you once she needs help.

Do you read her a story at bedtime? If you know she has already gone potty and are sure she doesn't have to go, try this: put her on the potty and then tell her that you are going to read her a story as soon as she is finished and is in bed, but that if she doesn't get finished in time (set timer for 10 minutes or whatever) then you won't have time to read to her. Sometimes this helps me when my 6 yr old doesn't want to put on her pj's or brush her teeth, especially since she knows i am true to my word and will NOT read to her if the chore isn't finished.

also, you could make it a game. tell her if she finishes and is off the potty by the time the timer goes off (5-10 minutes) then she "wins"! (clapping and cheering from you could be helpful when she "wins").

I also have a sticker chart for my 6 yr old. Whenever she has good behaviour, or cleans her toys up before bedtime, she gets a sticker. When she gets a certain amount collected, we go to the dollar store and she gets to pick something out. then we start the chart over. maybe you can give her a sticker for every time she gets to bed on time?

It is just her showing independence and her wanting attention. My daughter has been doing it recently and has also been whining more than usual, which I suspect is her being tired. Anyways, I put her on the potty and wait for two or three minutes and take her off, hold her hand and lead her to her room, put her in bed, cover her up, and walk out. I do it all without any expression on my face and without saying a word to her. I still haven't gotten her bedtime back to where it was, but it is now only a 20 or 30 minute fight not an hour or two. I just started doing it about a week ago. It seems to frustrate her that I will not give her attention. Good luck!!