Bedtime around our house has not been pretty lately, well I guess that is an understatement, it has been a nightmare for quite some time now. Sunday night mommy and daddy had a meltdown as well, and we realized that we had to get this under control before baby #3 comes, and just for our sanity! So after the kids finally went to sleep (Henry was up past 10pm, we definitely missed the window that night), we made the decision that we had to switch things up, become stricter on our routine, and most importantly be CONSISTENT!
Since my 1st trimester was pretty much a disaster, in bed by 8:30pm, nauseous all of the time, no energy, I was absolutely no help at all around the house. Kudos to my wonderful husband for picking up the slack and running the ship for those 2 months. With only one parent to put two kids to bed, we got too comfortable letting the kids watch the iPad for too long. And I really feel like that did not help put them to bed, it only wound them up more. The kids earn the iPad as a privilege, and I noticed that on the nights that they lost the iPad, they seemed to go to bed much better for us. So that was the first thing I wanted to change. So here is an approximate summary of our new routine - which I am SO happy to report has been going strong for 4 nights!!
Dinner around 5:30 - 6pm
Playtime in playroom or go to the Y from 6pm - 7pm
iPad time downstairs (not in their beds anymore and ONLY if they earn it) 7pm - 7:20pm
Bath from 7:20pm - 7:40ish
In bed around 7:45pm
Mom and Dad take turns reading each kid 1 - 3 books
Then at this point Hannah has been awesome and goes RIGHT to bed. The past 4 nights she has been sleeping by 8:15pm, which is 45min earlier than usual - and this girl needs her sleep since we are always waking her up in the mornings. We know she is ready because she gives us a hug, kiss, high five, and then asks us to shut her bedroom door.
Henry then gets to keep his lamp on for another 10 min or so and read books by himself until we come in at 8:20 - 8:30 and turn his light off. The past 4 nights he has been sleeping between 8:45pm - 9pm, which is great, but having him in bed by 8pm is even better. WAHOO!
Another rule we have implemented is that mommy and daddy's bathroom is closed after bath time. Our kids are very good about coming up with excuses on why they aren't ready for bed 'I'm thirsty, I need to go potty, etc' so now that they can only use the bathroom next to their rooms (which makes total sense) the bathroom excuses have stopped as well.
So let's hope this continues, and that mom and dad stick with it and stay consistent, and that our kids keep going to bed early so we can have time to ourselves, and our kids get the sleep they need. Hannah has been so happy in the mornings it is even making our mornings easier!
If they are good for two weeks we told them we will buy them each a Dream Lite. Isn't there something out there that after 11 days it becomes habit?? I sure hope so!
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