How many times a night do you 'cover' your children?

amother

Thu, May 07 2020, 4:05 pm

I usually cover my kids when they go to bed- but then they inevitably need the bathroom or a drink and then when they go back into bed they want me to cover them again (!) which gets me frustrated and I get angry. I don't cover them again but then they fall asleep and of course I feel TERRIBLE. Does anyone relate??? How many times should I cover them without getting impatient? How do you keep calm when you're burnt out, stressed, etc. etc?

amother

Fuchsia

Thu, May 07 2020, 4:08 pm

I tuck them in when they go to bed. Then before I go to sleep I check on them and cover them if they're uncovered. But official tuck in is only when they go to bed, if they come out for whatever reason, I don't cover.

thunderstorm

Thu, May 07 2020, 4:13 pm

I only cover my almost two year old. I have to do it about three times before she falls asleep (she screams and cries if I don’t) . And she wakes me up minimum once in the middle of the night to cover her. She also insists on being covered with a specific blanket. So if God forbid it’s in the washing machine , all hell breaks loose.

watergirl

Thu, May 07 2020, 4:24 pm

Never. Why would I? They can pull the blankets over themselves. If they are old enough to safely sleep with a blanket, old enough to get out of bed for a drink, etc, they are certainly old enough to pull the covers over themselves.

silverlining3

Thu, May 07 2020, 4:32 pm

amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:

This is me!
Tho a sick child is an exception.
OP, I have 1 daughter that used to wake up and wake me JUST to cover. I was pregnant with my 3rd and started talking to her, if she keeps waking me to cover her, I gotta think abt another baby....bh just for a cover I'm not woken by her anymore.

amother

Mistyrose

Thu, May 07 2020, 4:38 pm

I do, if/when they come out of bed if they do at all, I will tuck them back in (not if they are up 4 times and I am now yelling and obviously there are extenuating circumstances when I don't.) How long does it really take and then they feel loved, happy and peaceful. I often tuck teen DDs in if they are actually going to bed before me. Why not. It gives us a few minutes to talk and they feel loved and protected (I am not C"VS saying that children don't if you don't tuck them. Im just saying that my children's faces light up and it makes them happy)
I thought you were asking how many times a night do you go to DCs doom and recover them while they are sleeping if the blanket came off.
My grandmother used to when we sleep at her house. It made me crazy because I like cold feet and it would disturb my sleep, but she would recover then 2,3,4 times a night. She didn't want me to be cold😊. I miss her. She was awesome and my role model.

tigerwife

Thu, May 07 2020, 5:21 pm

This topic makes me laugh. I always check on my kids before I go to sleep and I evidently have to recover them. I know they’ll just kick it off again in their sleep but I personally can’t sleep without being completely covered so it drives me crazy to see them with their legs over the covers.

amother

Slategray

Thu, May 07 2020, 5:27 pm

I do this with my preschoolers but the rule is only once. It's a comfort thing, not a practical thing. Even if they've covered themselves, they want me to "cover" them.

My older girls stopped when they started sleeping in the top bunk.

amother

Saddlebrown

Thu, May 07 2020, 5:37 pm

amother [ Slategray ] wrote:

And my 8 year old dd still needs to be tucked in for comfort. So I give it to her, once a night.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, May 07 2020, 5:43 pm

My 2 year old sleeps in a sleep sack so I don't have to worry about her waking up cold. Any child young enough to get tucked in but old enough to cover themselves gets covered once at bedtime. Maybe it makes me a bad mother but I don't check on my kids once they're quiet at night because I don't want to take the chance of waking them up. On rare occasions if I have to go into someone's room to get something or to help a sick child then I'll recover a sleeping child.

Ora in town

Fri, May 08 2020, 7:32 am

I don't worry about it.
I trust that the room is warm enough...
In general I don't leave the window open in winter...
I would rather not provide a service to a child than do it and get angry about it.
However, I would refuse in a pleasant way...

shabbatiscoming

Fri, May 08 2020, 9:36 am

Never. And I never even thought about it. If my child would be uncomfortable or cold or anything else, said child would have come out of bed.

seeker

Fri, May 08 2020, 12:33 pm

If I'm sleeping then no, but if I'm up anyway then I view it as a very simple thing that will help them feel loved. Though I live in an apartment, if I had a house with stairs and they'd be traveling from their bed to ask me to travel back with them, I might view this differently.