"He goes to bed at 7pm?!"
"I have to lay down with my daughter, rock her to sleep and give her a bottle!"
From 0-4 months, I dealt with the typical nursing, new baby, no sleep routine. After that, baby boogie wanted no parts of my boobs, so we switched to the bottle and he pretty much always slept through the night.
Until BB was about 13 months, I would give him dinner, a bath, lay him in his crib with a bottle or sippy cup and he'd go right to sleep. No drama. Minimal wake ups in the middle of the night.
A few months before his second birthday, BB didn't want a sippy cup at bedtime anymore.
Score!
He was content with being tucked in and the lights going off. No tears, no fanfare.. just his blanky and a kiss on the forehead.
Once we moved into our new casa, I wanted to have a typical bedtime. You know, like the kind you see on TV? lol.Baby Boogie is turning 3 in September and can actually sit still for a story now. So, my evening routine routine looks something like this:
Bath
Dinner
Play/TVtime
Story
Bed
Now, BB goes to bed at 8:30pm. I let him watch a little bit of TV, then at 8:25 I say, "come on baby boogie, its time to go read a story".
You notice I don't say 'Its bed time!"
Oh no.. don't say that!
For some reason, THAT is upsetting to him. But, he knows that reading a story means he's going to bed. Strange...
Anywho, We read three books. One in his rocking chair, then I tuck him in and read the other two books. Afterwards, we say our prayers and I sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on repeat -- about five times.
{{blank stare}}
I posted that on Twittah the other night and of course the responses were hilarious!
But, this is what works 99% of the time.
That 1% fail?
When I let Snappy put him to bed!!
I give this man step by step instructions. A serious ZERO fail way for a successful bed time and Baby Boogie is always pissed.
"did you say prayers with him?"
YES!
"did you sing the song?"
YES!
I always end up having to do damage control and an abbreviated version of the routine.
1 book
Short prayer
1 loop of the song...
Snappy says I'm showing off when I do that...
You know what I say?
Don't hate the player sir. Hate the game!
If you're a parent, do you have a 'no fail' approach to bedtime?
4 comments:
8 hours of bedtime??? I'm still shocked! (Also CRACKING UP that saying "It's bedtime" produces heat!)
I definitely wouldnt call it no fail but there are a couple of things I have to do or the girls will call my name all night long.
1. Let me use the bathroom before they get in bed.
2. Say prayers with them.
3. Read a book.
4. Sing a lullabye. Lullabye for them equals the second verse of "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Long story...
Man, a bedtime routine is sooooooo important. And nope, we don't use the phrases, "it's bedtime" or "it's time for bed" either. Those phrases spring instant tears and every avoidance technique know to a toddler. Snappy gets a big fat F! LOL!
Girl when B was small we would move heaven and earth to make sure her routine was kept! We always created an invitation to bedtime: warm bath, dimmed lights, warm bottle, quiet voices, story time, prayer and a song...sometimes that kid didn't last through the second book! Lololol.....routine is def key!
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