She complained, though, that her younger sister talked in her sleep. I told her she used to do that, too, and to be more tolerant, especially since she was the visitor.

A few days later, she ended up sleeping in my room, too, since she had worn out her welcome elsewhere. Early the next morning before she awoke, she started yelling, “No!” in an argumentative tone. She was obviously arguing with someone in a dream. I was hoping it wasn’t me.

Last night, my youngest son started talking in his sleep … “mml…go” … which, in his language, is “Wanta go,” which he loves to do.

So, within a week’s time, all my children have been talking in their sleep.

What does this mean? I would guess it has something to do with unrestful sleep. All have either been sick, suffering from allergies or just tired.

Of course, it was a full moon recently, too.

–Linda Lynn

LLynn@opubco.com

For all workshops, pre-register by calling 425-4412.

Unless otherwise noted, all sessions are for parents and caregivers of young children.

Here’s what’s in store for this summer:

Terrific Two’s: Learn about your 2-year-old. Focus is on their developmental milestones.  All are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
June 1, Choctaw Library
June 16, Midwest City Library
June 22, Southern Oaks Library
June 19, The Village Library

Sibling Struggles: Learn methods to prepare children for the arrival of a new sibling and how to deal with sibling squabbles. Find out about sibling rivalry and what normal behavior is.  Both are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
June 2, Midwest City
June 30, The Village

Just for Fun: Games People Play(for children ages 8-12): Includes active games, quiet games and brain teasers. Kids will play games from the past and games from other cultures. Both are 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
June 14, Southern Oaks
June 21, The Village

Toileting Triumph: Toileting doesn’t have to be a major challenge. Focus is on signs of readiness, why it can be frustrating and much more. All are from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
June 16, Edmond Library
June 29, Warr Acres Library
July 20, Ralph Ellison Library

Making Your Morning Manageable: Time to eliminate chaos and come up with a routine. Focus is what parents can do to make this part of the day more calm and enjoyable.
June 25, 10:30 a.m. to noon, Warr Acres

Lullaby & Goodnight: Find a routine that includes reading to your child, to ease bedtime and naptime challenges.  Sleep challenges will also be discussed. Both are 3:30 to 5 p.m.
June 30, Edmond
August 17, Ralph Ellison

Look Out, I’m Three!: Learn more about your 3-year-old. Focus is on developmental milestones. All are from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
July 7, Southern Oaks
July 8, Midwest City
July 13, The Village
July 20, Choctaw

Toddlers at the Table: Turn common concerns about toddler’s eating habits into opportunities to teach healthy habits. Both are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
July 12, Midwest City
July 21, The Village

Those Playful Preschoolers:Focus is behavioral characteristics and developmental milestones of 3- and 4-year-olds.  Activity ideas will be shared to keep little ones busy. Learn it’s OK for your preschooler to be “out of bounds.” Both are 3:30 to 5 p.m.
July 27, Warr Acres
Aug. 25, Edmond

Baby Basics: Main focus is typical concerns of parents. Colic/crying, separation anxiety, sleeping through the night and other issues will be discussed.
July 28, 3:30 to 5 p.m., Edmond

Reading Readiness: Workshop will explore the necessary reading readiness building blocks and parents’ roles in helping children become readers. Both are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 4, Midwest City
Aug. 9, The Village

Fun to be Four: Learn about your fascinating 4-year-old. Workshop focuses on developmental milestones.  All are 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 3, Southern Oaks
Aug. 4, Midwest City
Aug. 10, The Village
Aug. 12, Choctaw

School Readiness: Facilitators will talk about support, encouragement and opportunity all children need for school success.
Aug. 10, 3:30 to 5 p.m., Warr Acres

Tripping Through Toddlerhood: Topics include, tantrums, biting, sharing and other common toddler challenges. Parents will learn how to minimize frustrations.
Aug. 11, 3:30 to 5 p.m., Edmond

Teaching Children to be More Cooperative: Focus is on when to discipline or ignore unwanted behaviors. Learn guidance techniques used by experts.
Aug. 27, 10:30 a.m. to noon, Warr Acres

To see the Oklahoma City-County Health Departments newsletters, including schedules for upcoming play groups, workshops, and health  and child guidance screenings, click here .

-Erica Smith
esmith@opubco.com

THE TODDLER BED.

For two hours last weekend, I converted my son’s crib, Transformer-style, into a toddler bed.  My son was ecstatic. I was relieved. “A big boy bed!” 

I dutifully padded the floor around it, just in case of an accidental roll-out. I tucked him in for a nap and he did great.  No major injuries, no crying fits. Then came the real test … sleeping through the night.   I put him to bed, woke up the next morning and my first thought was “Wow! That worked! How easy is this!” 

Not so fast.

There they were.  Two little feet nestled next to my head.  My son sound asleep next to me.  A middle-of-the-night escape.

OK, I thought … so maybe it would take a night or two for him to get used to his bed.  Maybe he got scared.  Maybe there’s dinosaurs in his closet.  But now it’s Friday.  And I’m still waking up every morning to a visitor in my bed. 

Now, I’ve seen all the nanny shows on TV.  I’ve seen parents repeatedly put their kids back into their own beds, where they belong.  But what do you do when they sneak out of their bed every night and you don’t know until you have a knee in your rib or an arm draped over your head the next morning?

If you have any ideas, short of deadbolting his door shut, please let me know! 

-Erica Smith, Copy Editor
esmith@opubco.com

So far, the most important thing I’ve found in my sleep research is babies need to go to bed early — 7 or 8 p.m., even as early as 6:30 p.m. This has been such a surprise for me because we were putting my daughter in bed about 11 p.m. or midnight, right before we went to bed. I guess the thought process was that the later she went to bed the later she would wake up. Not so says my research. We were more than likely making her overtired and too fussy to sleep. We’ve started putting her to bed earlier. So far it’s been by 9 p.m. and we have already seen some success. But I’m shooting for about 7:30 p.m.

Ronisha Carpenter, copy editor

rcarpenter@opubco.com

When I was a kid, I was afraid of the dark — even if I was in my house.

Apparently, that fear has been passed to my 4-year-son, Cody.

During the past two months, Cody and I have gone to sleepovers at each of my two sister’s houses. Both times, Cody has awoken during the middle of night and told me, “Daddy, I’m scared.”

After a few minutes of sleeping in the same room with him, Cody falls asleep.

When Cody spends the night in my house, he sleeps soundly and for a full eight hours.

Do other parents have advice for me to help Cody with this fear?

I’d love to hear from you.

— Brian Sargent

bsargent@oklahoman.com

At the beginning of summer I signed the kids up for a three-week summer camp, and it helped to keep them on a regular sleep schedule. But when that ended, it all went downhill from there.

So, it’s been a little difficult to get back into the routine. Getting the kids up in the mornings isn’t really the problem. It’s getting them to bed and keeping them in bed. 

Let me know if you have any tips that helped your family get back to the school schedule. We have several weeks to go before summer break comes again! So any shared solutions might help the school year go more smoothly.  — Linda Lynn

In fact, it was the first time I have ever let her have friends to spend the night, having set the arbitrary age of 7 as the age to allow sleepovers when her older brother turned 7. So now that we’ve officially launched sleepover era in our house for two of my children, I’m wondering when all the rites of slumber party passage begin – prank calling, fingernail painting, toilet papering, truth or dare, commiserating over boys, etc. – all the things we did at one age or another during slumber parties when we were kids.

What do you think is the best age to start allowing friends to spend the night or sons and daughters to go spend the night with friends? At what age do sleepovers end? What rules do you set beforehand? How involved are you as a parent?

My daughter and friends had a great time, and it was fun to watch her spend an entire evening with a small group of friends. One of her guests came from the southwest Oklahoma town we lived in last year, and she fit right in with my daughter’s new group of friends from this year.

I’d love to hear from readers about their children and sleepovers. Have you had a great idea for an activity before the sleeping actually begins? For boys? For girls? Is there anything as a parent you wish you had known before you started slumber parties?

At 7, thank goodness, my daughter isn’t ready for toilet papering or boyfriend anguish. The only setback during her sleepover came when they wanted to tell scary stories but no one could think of any before they fell asleep. I’m still trying to find the right balance between hovering and letting her take the lead. Perhaps by starting at age 7, I have time to learn.
~ Lillie-Beth