How to get your kids to go to bed — and stay there!

She’s thirsty. She’s lonely. She has to pee...again! Is it the same scene at your house after lights out?

Parenting expert and author Alyson Schafer reminds parents that bedtime stalling is simply about engaging mom and dad. “You can’t make them go to bed, but you can make sure they don’t reach their goal, and they’ll then abandon the behaviour.

This is not you being cruel; this is setting a boundary. "No socializing after 8 p.m.,” says Schafer, who suggests you attempt not to control the child, but to control the situation.

Here are some more tips for getting them to go to bed — and stay there!

A version of this article appeared in our February 2013 issue with the headline "Stop bedtime stalling," p. 55.