There are five stages of struggling through bedtime with kids. As much as they struggle, it is important to stay strong and make sure they do not control you. Although you need to be stern, giving them comfort is another thing you can do. Allow them to sleep in the bed with you and then bring them back to their own bed when they are snoring.

Key Takeaways:

• My daughter is willful, and that will serve her well later in life. But right now that willfulness means that she refuses to sleep in her own bed at night, and that’s robbing my wife and I of precious shuteye. As such, the bedtime wars have begun.
• I’m the adult here, and I will not be a slave to my kids’ schedules! When the girl comes into our room, we carry her right back to her bedroom, even if that means crying. End Result: Lots of screaming, lots of tears, no progress, and no sleep for anybody.
• All she really wants is the security of somebody sleeping next to her. So we’ll bring her to her bed, lie down next to her for a while, and then tiptoe out when she’s finally snoring. End Result: A very sore back from falling asleep on the floor next to her bed.

“I don’t care where you sleep — just let me get some shuteye. At this point, we just hoped that maybe someday she’d outgrow this phase. End Result: She slept well, we didn’t. Talks of buying a king-sized bed so we could get some mattress space to ourselves increased exponentially”

https://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/the-five-stages-of-struggling-through-bedtime/