As a mother, one of the craziest times of my day has often been bedtime.
My children do not like to sleep. Maybe yours do; if so, I will gladly get off this computer and invite you to finish this post!
If you sometimes find yourself pulling your hair out over frustrating bedtimes, please continue reading.
Note: My husband and I do not practice the “family bed” routine; exempting infancy, our children sleep in their own bedrooms. If you are a mommy (or daddy) who enjoys sharing the bed with your kiddos, please don’t take offense at this post. Some of these “tips” may not apply to your family, but I am certainly not knocking the family bed.
A few things we do to keep bedtime as simple as possible with small children:
Be consistent with a routine.
I’m not a slave to schedule, but I do believe that routine is a life-saver in a home with small children. If I put my children to bed at different times every night, I can’t expect them to be on some sort of schedule all on their own.
I don’t feel that little ones should be allowed to stay up until they fall asleep from sheer exhaustion on their own. Different times will work better for different families, but the key is to be as consistent as possible.
Eight-thirty is bedtime for our little people. This means that either my husband or I have to get baths going, lay out pajamas, help the kids brush their teeth, and otherwise get the bedtime routine going at an early hour.
Children are creatures of habit (aren’t we all?). The ease of bedtime when you keep a consistent routine is well worth the effort!
Don’t compare your kids.
All children are not created equal (in their behavior, I mean). Some babies sleep all night nearly from infancy. Others are still popping out of bed at three or four years of age.
As a mama, I frequently hear questions like, “Is he a good baby? Does he sleep well at night?”
Well, yes and no. Yes, babies are good, and not because they happen to sleep a lot at night!
Don’t be frustrated with your child if he or she doesn’t happen to be a good sleeper. However, if you have a toddler or older child who chronically struggles with poor sleeping habits, take health issues and eating habits into consideration. Natural remedies and a healthy diet (including eliminating food allergies) go a long way in helping little ones rest well.
Train Your Little Ones to Unwind at the End of the Day
We try to keep bedtime peaceful by keeping it quiet. I don’t feel that children need to fall asleep watching TV, or even a good DVD. Children learn to appreciate peace by living in a home that is filled with peace.
Listening to a Bible story, reading a book, or family devotions are good “quiet time” activities to wrap up the day.
Keep your bedtime routine do-able.
Kids have an amazing memory. If you tell Susie and Sammy three stories, sing two songs, and allow two trips to the kitchen for a drink before bed on Monday night, guess how many stories and songs and drinks they’ll want on Tuesday night?
If you can’t keep doing something, don’t start.
Our bedtime routine goes something like this: play time after supper, baths around 7:30, dress for bed, straighten bedrooms, healthy snack, brush teeth, go to potty, get a drink of water, story and a song, lights out and quiet. This little “routine” has worked well for us the past year or so. We have a baby coming this year, so it is certainly subject to change!
A few more thoughts…
Ideally, bed time should not be a stressful time, for either children or parents. Unfortunately, life is more reality than idealism. Establishing a do-able, consistent routine for bedtime takes a lot of effort on the part of a parent. And it can be extremely frustrating at times.
What I strive to work toward, even in the midst of frustration, is that bedtime not become a negative part of the day.
How do you strive to keep your young children’s bedtime routine as peaceful and simple as possible?
photo credits: HeartFelt’s Vintage Children’s Collection
This post is shared at All in a Day and Works for Me Wednesday
Hello, does anybody have any tips about the most simple method to get their little one to sleep all night?
I have read various books with suggestions but I am still struggling.
Best wishes
We tell our daughter its bedtime and go to her room. We let her play for a few minutes, then diaper and Jammies go on. Then its tooth brushing time. everyone gets lots of hugs and kisses, then she gets the binky (she’s not yet two and only uses it to sleep) and my husband and I take turns singing a little song to her. Then we lay her down awake, and she goes to sleep. Yesterday she said “yay!” and ran to me when i told her it was nap time. I don’t know if we’re just super lucky, but that’s our routine and it works.
I had it easy with my first as she was a great sleeper from day 1 (yes slept through the night from day 1). I have always stuck to a routine, my girls will only sleep in their beds so that means we need to be home for naps & bedtime. While I am not terribly strict with the routine, I do carefully consider whether or not to do something that is on during nap time or after bedtime. My first daughter had a nap everyday until she was 4 and a half. And, after a rough start with my second daughter, I have her napping & sleeping well.
We basically do what you do. We try to be consistant with a bedtime routine, we do not reward disobedience (if either child gets out of bed they are walked back to bed promptly with no interaction from the parent), we keep things quiet at bedtime & we give them a good snack before they go. We get up at 7am & my 2 year old goes to bed at 7pm & my 6 year old at half 7.
Somehow I missed this All in A day. We have a pretty good routine, but our bedtimes vary due to church on some nights, weekends, just lazy getting started, etc. I enjoy my morning times alone, so I don’t like to get the kids into bed TOO early. We usually strive for before 9:30. My kids don’t complain about going to bed. We usually have at least two asleep during the bedtime prayers. They play hard, dude. 🙂 (That and they probably still need to nap during the day!) Ella will go to bed an hour or so earlier. She is still in the crib for now. 🙂
My kids play hard and sleep hard… once they go to sleep! Not one of them (except maybe the baby) falls asleep easily or quickly. I can count on one hand the times any of my children have fallen asleep during Church!
If we don’t feed our kids at bedtime, one or both of them will usually wake up hungry during the night, making it a “rough” night for us parents. So, we start our bedtime routine with snack time, which is usually a bowl of oatmeal for all of us (the kids always love it, so we can be confident they will eat until full). Next they brush teeth with Dad while I clean up the kitchen a little. Then it’s Bible story time followed by a couple songs and a prayer. Then into bed they go! Usually it’s about 9:00 by the time we turn out their light.
Oh, how did I forget to mention snack time?! Our kids definitely need a snack before bedtime too.