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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
Give me your Bedtime Routine
OK for those of you that read my "At the end of my rope" post last week, I am really working on this sleep thing with Benjamin. I am making our daily routine clearer, so he knows what to expect. We have been doing a bedtime routine since he was 3-4 months, but I am not sure if it is enough of a bedtime routine, sooooo tell me yours with times included please!
I just keep telling myself that soon enough he will sleep...I just have to find the right way to get it done.
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Re: Give me your Bedtime Routine
7:00pm we give him a bath
after bath we read him 2 books
he nurses and is ready for bed by 8:00 he actually walks to the gate and starts saying "bye bye" and blowing me kisses thats when we know when he is ready.
?
We dont do anything?elaborate. Just simple and he knows how it happens?
Well, all bets are off this week because she's sick and getting her molars in, but usually we do bath at 6:30, then at 7:00 read w/daddy, bottle, brush teeth, and she's in bed by 7:30.
I've heard that it's better to keep the routine fairly simple.
I want her *asleep* by 7:30 and in order to make that happen I................
6:00-6:15p: We pick up allllll her toys and then I put her in the pnp so I can vacuum.
6:15-6:30p: We make use of the lovely clean floor and we pretty much chase eachother around, tickle, and play screamy-loud "I'm gonna get you" games lol. She LOVES this. It also helps to tire her out a bit more and get any residual energy out, especially the squealing!!
I didn't plan it this way but in retrospect that's what it does.
6:30-6:50p: Dinner.
6:50-7:05p: Bath. Here, again, I encourage lots of splashing and squealing. I use the Euro bath and I lay her on the "baby" side and show her how to kick those legs to get the biggest splash and then I do the same for her arms and hands on the "big girl" side. I use the shower curtain to protect myself lol. It's alot of fun actually. She's literally yawning by the time she's done and ready to get out.
7:05-7:15p: Lotion, pjs, turn off lights, close blinds, then sing her lullabye twice, kisses, and then down she goes. She is asleep by 7:30p 95% of the time.
***I did sketch out the general routine a looong time ago (we started this at about 6mos old) but now that I know how long things take to accomplish wiht her it really has become this sort of regimented thing.........but it certainly doesn't feel like that........so writing it down in the way feels funny like I stop her bath at exactly 7:05 or whatever, and I certainly do not. It's just how it all works tbh
I don't want to look like a freak but my kiddo is very routine by nature I think!!!****
I want to add that my cleaning up and vacuuming, while we do do it that way 6 nights out of 7, is not officially part of her routine. It's just a logical progression for us so I added it in my post. But I do think DD attributes us cleaning up with the ending of her day if you kwim so it is sort of her routine if that makes sense. So, no you do not have to have a 1.5hr long routine to get your baby to sleep!! On days we're running late, we'll go right to dinner and make the bath super short and that may take only a 1/2hr yanno?
And we don't do a bottle or cup of milk or anything so as long as babysitter/mil/whomever is able to put pjs on a baby and sing them itsy bitsy spider then they are good to go to put her down
Anyway, our routine is dinner, bath, pjs and lotion, brush teeth, read a book in the glider, then we kiss her and put her to bed wrapped up in her blanket with her stuffed elephant.
Well our routine has always been, about 3 hours after the end of the last nap DH and B go upstairs and get in the tub for bath time. They usually play for about 15 minutes. Then out of the tub and into jammies. I take him into his room (the sound machine and ceiling fan are already on) and we sit in the rocking chair and he drinks his bottle. After bottle is done I give him his paci and put him in his crib with his blanket. Then I leave. He usually talks to himself for about 10 minutes and falls asleep.
I guess I am just trying to figure out if I need to adjust it to help with his sleep or not...
Our routine is a little sketchy. ?We always do the same things (bath, bed, book, etc). ?But the times are all dependent on how tired she seems and what time my husband gets home from work. ?Essentially we do this:
5-6: dinner for her
6-7: bath, lotion, pjs
7:00 - daddy comes home. they have some playtime and sometimes she goes immediately to bed. ?if she's still wide awake then she sits with us at the table while we have dinner. ?She's always in bed by 7:30/8 though. ?
bedtime: ?change into nighttime diaper, select & read 1 book, talk about her day ("did you have fun at the park today?" etc). ?prayers. paci. bed. ?
7:00 arrive home
7:30 dinner
8:00 bathtime or playtime if there's not bath that night
8:30 pajamas, read, bottle while rocking
9:00 bed
some nights we're dead on, other night we're waaaay off. As long as I can get DS in bed by 9:30, I'm pretty happy.
6:30-bath
6:50-lotion, diaper, pjs
Then we do a bottle (I am now working on weaning this), read two books, cuddle for a minute and say goodnight. I then put him in his crib and leave the room.
I also say 'its time to go to sleep' every night and before all of his naps...not sure if this helps, but I am a big dork
We get home between 6 and 6:30 from daycare. I feed DS, give him his bath. DH gets home and we play for a half hour or so, we read him 2 books and one of us usually rocks him for about 5-10 minutes. He has been going down awake though which is good so the rocking is really just extra time we get to spend with him since we dont' see him all day.I would keep the routine simple though.
What time does he go to bed? You say it is 3 hours after his last nap, but is it the same time every night? Maybe that would help?
Usually in the crib between 7 and 7:30.
Our typical routine based on normal naps is:
5:00 dinner for B
6:00 dinner for us (he plays in highchair)
6:30 play time
7:00 upstairs for bath
7:15 put on jammies take medicine
7:20 bottle in rocking chair
7:25-7:30 in crib with blanky and paci
After her dinner, she gets playtime and/or bathtime. We only do a bath every other night, so it's not really part of her routine.?
Around 7 p.m., I get her into her pajamas and brush her teeth. Give Dadda (or me) a kiss goodnight, depending on who is putting her to bed. Then she gets 3-4 books read to her, and given a sippy cup of water to drink while she gets rocked. If I'm doing the routine, I'll sing her several songs while we rock. I don't think DH sings.
When she's had enough to drink, she gives me the cup. I put her in her crib, tuck her in with her blanket, prop her bear where she can see him, start up her musical soother, and tell her I love her and to sleep tight.?
Then she gets herself to sleep. ?
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
5:45PM- 15 minute warning that cleanup is approaching.
5:50- 10 minute warning, 5:55- 5 minute warning.
6:00PM- Clean up. We sing the clean up song and DD puts all her toys away with verbal prompting. She knows where everything goes, and we praise her for doing a great job at cleaning up.
6:05-6:15- Bathtime.
6:15: Put on PJ's, brush hair, attempt to drink milk, but usually she won't, then brush teeth.
6:30-She picks out a story by grabbing one book from her shelf. We read it together as a family, give her a kiss and tuck her in.
6:45- Asleep until tomorrow........