Painful as it may be when a parent wants a little time away from the demands of parenting, the fact is that a child's need for sleep is still a product of the many events of the day. So a parent's use of incentives or threats to deal with a child's resistance to bedtime may only create argument and conflict because the real cause is in the events of the day already done. The best parental strategy is to look first at diet and exercise. Snacks with caffeine such as a glass of Coke or chocolate milk can disturb the sleep of a 150-pound adult; think how concentrated that amount is in a small child! A daily chart that records both the activities that might be related to sleep (exercise, diet, exciting or frightening TV) and a note on how the bedtime routine went on that day can provide better understanding. Also record what your child drinks, particularly those drinks with sugar or, please forbid it, caffeine.