Every mum struggles with bedtime at some point in their child's life, unless you are very lucky! You can deal with tantrums and crying babies for weeks or months on end. Most bedtime problems will be solved by a consistent bedtime routine. (I'm not saying it is the answer for everyone, it is just what I have learnt from myself and other people I know with children). So today I thought I would share Jonathan's bedtime routine to maybe give some ideas to anyone with children who are just starting to get into a routine.
6:30pm - Playtime with Daddy. After dinner, while I clean away the dishes, the children will play with their dad since he has been at work all day and haven't had a chance to see him.
6:45pm - Bath time. We like to mix it up with Jonathan's baths, some nights we use bubble bath and some nights we just have plain water. We found that if you washed his hair in water with bubble bath in, it would cause a lot of cradle cap on his head. So we used the cradle cap shampoo and only wash his hair with plain bath water. I know some bubble baths might be OK to wash 'top to toe', we just found it best to wash on the nights when we didn't use bubble bath.
(He was very unhappy that all of the bubbles had popped!)
7:00pm - Time to get out, dry and into pyjamas.
7:15pm - Make a warm bottle of milk for Jonathan to fill him up before he goes to sleep.
7:30 - Time to pick a book and read it before going to sleep. After the book is read, we will put on his musical penguin projector and tuck him into bed. Of course, goodnight kisses are given and then we turn out the light and let him go to sleep.
Sometime Jonathan will stand up in his cot and give out if he doesn't want to go to sleep. Me and my partner use a mix of controlled crying and putting him back down to sleep. We will let him cry for five minutes before going into the bedroom and , without saying anything, lay him back down and tuck him in again. This generally works well for us. The only reason he has to give out any longer is if he isn't feeling very well. I did a post a few weeks ago with pointers for poorly children, check it out if you're looking for some tips!
That is all we do for Jonathan's bedtime routine! Nothing fancy, just consistent and calming. Let me know if you have a different routine for your little ones! I love reading other mummy posts!
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