Do you ever feel like your child's bedtime routine is getting out of control? Especially in the two-year-old world in which we live, bedtime routine is absolutely crucial. We have to follow all the steps, in just-so order, for Mason to make it to bed successfully. Part of it is probably that he's a particular little guy, especially at bed time.
Step by step, we've gotten ourselves into an hour long routine, which is tough to live by when work hours come and go at all different intervals or we're out late at Grandma's house. There is nothing like starting bedtime at 9:30 or 10:00 pm, only to finish up at least an hour later.
Our routine consists of the following: diaper change (to "blue and yellow stars", because the special night-time diapers are good to us) and put on jammies, then we look at the alphabet slideshow on Starfall (sometimes we even take the "puter" into Mason's room as a special treat), and then we read stories. It used to be all the stories, then we cut it down to three, and now we're back up to somewhere between five and seven. After stories, we tuck him into bed with all SEVEN blankets (that's right-- he hugs two or three, and has at least three on top of him, the kid is a blanket aficianado!). Then it's time for lullabies. This is where I run into problems.
I need some new book suggestions and some lullaby suggestions. I've only found three songs he likes, and I only personally care for one of the three. I'm hoping to make him a little CD or something I can just let play to help cut a few minutes off our bedtime ritual. It's not that I mind spending the time with him, I just want to simplify things a little bit. Often, Dad is getting home around bedtime or Mom gets home from work late and it's meaning that no one besides Mason gets into bed before midnight.
So, please post any lullaby suggestions or ideas on how to simplify our bedtime routine. I have gradually managed to move bath time to earlier in the day, but I would be very interested and very grateful for further ideas!
2 comments:
I spent months typing up children's songs, lullabies, finger plays, etc. I still have yet to actually print it. I wanted to put it into a three-ring binder so I always have something new to sing. I need to get cracking on it. If you'd like, I would he happy to email it your way. Possibily something will jump out at you.
As for a simply routine, ours is really easy. We have tried to do the bath during the day, we read stories throughout the day so when it comes to bed it is simply bedtime. We will rock Livy, snuggle close and sing. After a few songs we put her into bed while still awake and leave the room. I tell her the same thing everynight to her as I walk out of the room. I am happy to say that she rolls onto her tummy and goes to sleep. She rarely will complain.
That would be fabulous, I would love it. I don't mind Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, but Rock a Bye Baby is kind of morbid, and the other song he likes I made up the tune to and I really don't think it's correct. So I would LOVE an email. And we do read stories throughout the day as it is, so maybe I could make that less of a "bedtime" event. Thank you for your suggestions!
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