Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

What time do you start your routine and what do you do to prepare them for bed?

I am trying to do something about Hayley's horrible sleeping. I am reading the No Cry Sleep Solution and I realized I really don't have a bedtime routine for her.

Any suggestions and advise are greatly appreciated!!!

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

Ever since stupid daylight savings time, my son is ALL messed up. He's been going to bed at 10pm.

What I have to normally do is prep Jared before bedtime. I give him a heads up...

Like...okay Jared..in 5 minutes we're going to take a bath. Then when I'm drying him off, I get him excited about reading books. I tell him to pick 2-3 books for bedtime and then when we're done reading them it's bedtime.

So everything we do at bedtime is explained beforehand. If I didn't and said...Time for bed...he'd be screaming.

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

DS goes to bed by 7:00. Before I take him upstairs I tell him it's almost time for bed so he knows it's coming. We clean up toys and then I tell him time to go upstairs to put on pajamas and read books. He LOVES books so he goes right upstairs. We change into pajamas and then I read him a few books. He likes to say good night to the things in his room. He has a turtle night light that shines stars on the ceiling so we put it on, turn off the lights, and sing twinkle twinkle. Then I put him right in his crib and he lays right down and goes to sleep. I think the routine really helps him. I was having trouble getting him to go to sleep for his naps so I started doing the book routine before naps too and it worked!

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

Honestly, I never considered it a "routine" in a formal sense, but I guess we do typically do the same things every night. This is what happens in the evening...

We eat dinner at 6pm. Afterwards, we clean, she plays, etc. After that's done, she goes into her pajamas--or takes a bath (we don't bathe her everynight). This is somewhere between 7pm and 7:30pm. At 7:30 we go upstairs and brush her teeth. Directly afterwards, we read a book or bookS--depending on time. Her bedtime is "supposed" to be 8pm, but she's become a master staller, so it's more like 8:15. She goes down to bed, and always has, without a problem. She even tells us "what comes next."

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

We don't have a strict routine (mainly so that we have flexibility if things come up).

At 8pm, DS and I get him ready for bed. Brush his teeth, then he reads a book to me. While I'm getting DS ready, DW is getting DD in her PJ's, reading her a book, and brushing her teeth. When I'm done with DS, I help finish getting DD ready, then carry her to bed. Say goodnight, hugs and kisses, then put her down and close the door. She's out in 5-10 minutes, somewhere around 8:30 (hence the small flurry of posts by me between 8:30 and 9pm.... )

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

Nate is a horrible sleeper. He still will not sleep in his own bed and will wake up when he realizes that we are not in the bed with him.

We have a fairly consistent evening routine
6:30-7:00 Get home from work, play for a bit
7-730 dinner (they get whatever I made the night before)
7:30-7:45 shower
7:45-8:15 PJs, stories, telling him to lay down 15 times
8:15-9:00 Sitting in the dark until he falls asleep
At least one to two times, he'll wake up screaming bloody murder bc he realized he's upstairs alone

It's so sad but I absolutely HATE putting him to bed, it takes almost an hour for him to fall asleep. I thought maybe he wasn't tired, so I tied putting him to bed later but he's just cranky in the morning. DH refuses to help bc he always falls asleep and ends up not doing the work he planned to do. I'm like Cry me an f*** river, I still have to make dinner, wash dinner dishes and bottles and pack the diaper bag.

Jayden on the other hand is so easy, he's asleep within 5-10 min of storytime.

Sorry didn't mean to vent on your thread

Message edited 3/11/2008 1:08:29 PM.

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

Marron usually goes to bed pretty easily, but honestly, I know it is too late. She doesn't go down until about 10. Unfortunately she naps late though and gets up from her nap around 4-5 so she isn't ready to sleep at 8 (which is when I'd like her bedtime to be).

Anyway, we get her ready by putting her in jammies, then she gets to sit on the couch with Daddy and watch TV for a bit while she gets her binky to wind down and she has her vitamin (it's like a bedtime snack to her!) Then I bring her in to bed. We put on the musicbox that was attached to her mobile and she goes to sleep. Rarely does she buck me or fight.

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

My kids are actually pretty easy.

By the time I get home (around 5:30ish) the kids are bathed, changed and fed. (I have a round-the-clock live-in nanny/housekeeper.) They sometimes sit down and have a snack with me when I get home and then I go to shower and change.

We'll then play for a while and at exactly 8 pm. I take DD give her kisses and hugs and put her in her crib (still awake) and I leave her room, shut the dor and she goes to sleep.

DS follows right after. We go to his room, I make sure he's gone potty and then I draw his drapes and tuck him in and he prefers I tell him stories, so that's what I do. I then give him kisses, he tells me/I tell him I love him and then I close the door.

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

It's flexible by 15 minutes, but this is what we have been doing for awhile...

It starts from the moment that DH picks Bella up from daycare or around 4:45-5pm when she is home with me.
We have playtime until 5:30.

Dinner between 5:30 and 6 pm.

Bath at 6:30.

Start winding down at 7 pm-7:15pm

She is either lying with DH (more for DH's needs) or she is in bed by 7:30 pm (7:45 THE LATEST, and that's only because of the Berenstein Bears and DH's cuddle time as previously mentioned)

We have had some difficulty with molars and twisted rituals, but that has gotten MUCH better in the past week and a half (lord help me if I have jinxed myself)
She is asleep after 5 minutes.

Good Luck...we were having problems for the past couple of months and I was at the end of a rope dangling over the edge of a mountain.

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

Andrew's routine went out the window with Hannah's birth. We're trying to re-establish one. Currently he gets fed between 6:00 and 7:00, gets a bath around 7:30 and can play after he gets into PJs and brushes his teeth until 8:00. Then it's supposed to be lights out. He usually drags it out with wanting stories, water, or monster searches for a good 45 minutes.

Good luck!

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

He goes pretty easily. I always let him know beforehand that he has 15 minutes (which is usually 30) then 10 minutes etc. He then brushes his teeth with daddy and he goes right up to bed. He's always aloud to bring something to bed with him and he always has money (pennies) under his pillow....he WILL NOT go to bed if he doesn't have money there . We put the music on and he goes to bed.

Added: he goes about 9:30.

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

We usually all get home between 5-5:30, so for about an hour we play outside, with a neighbor, or inside. Then, at 6:30pm DH prepares dinner. We eat around 7pm.

Then I let Alex play for another 20 minutes or so, unless it's a bath night, in which case we head straight to the bath.

After that, she brushes her teeth, we go to her room, change her into Pajamas, and we read a few books.

Turn out the light together and then we have "cuddle time" for about 5-10 minutes.

Then, I ask her for a big hug and kiss, pick her up and put her into her bed, and that's it for us! She's usually in bed by 8 or 8:15pm.

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

thanks again!!

Re: Parents of 2-3 year olds...bedtime routine

Not much really. She usually has PJ's on pretty early because she likes wearing them.
She usually likes a yogurt or some kind of snack so we do that.
Brush teeth and put her in her crib. If she chooses to go up early then we read stories if not she doesn't get storytime. We're pretty tough on that one because she'll come up with all kinds of reasons for stalling but once she's in the crib she's usually OK.