What activity or trick makes your child sleepy and ready for bed?
I think I've tried it all and I'm at my wit's end with my non-sleeping toddler. 
You might also enjoy...
-
We've been pretty no-nonsense about bedtime, so he doesn't really fight it after our routine, but if you've got a baby monitor with sound, I read about a fun routine where after you say goodnight, they get to tell you something funny/silly to say over the monitor, and then when you leave the room, you do so through the monitor. That way you're out of the room (and don't go back in), and they're in a good mood.
-
I'm of the "you can lead a horse to water but can't make them drink" camp. As long as E's quietly in her room at bedtime, she falls asleep when she does. *shrug* pestering her has the opposite effect. I make sure she has everything she needs and that the closet door is shut (super important. Rabid bunnies live there or something equally scary....)
-
Bath. Milk. Sleep sack. He goes through phases where he either:
1) falls instantly asleep
2) chats for a few and falls asleep
3) cries for about 2 mins and goes to sleepCurrently he is in phase 3 which sucks the most. We don't go back in though. Bed time is bed time (when he's not sick or teething).
-
I just saw an article that said to make a child sleepy, low lighting and quiet activity in the 2 hours before bed, no screens of any kind (the brightness interrupts sleepy signals in the brain), and a good routine during the day with a consistent wake up time each morning should help.
Having said that, different things work for different kiddos and kids go through stages, too. Our toddler has never had *too* much trouble falling asleep--it's the staying asleep that she sucks at. Right now at 2.5, we put on Pjs and night diaper, read 2-3 books in low lighting while she holds her blankie and has her paci, and then we off the lights and I sing her 2-3 songs. Then I leave the room, whether she's asleep or not, and she typically falls asleep on her own after that.
-
Usually, DH changes him & puts on his jammies, I brush/floss his teeth & wash his face, then DH reads him stories, then either I nurse him or one of us lies down with him and he falls asleep. I think sticking to the routine is key for us, he looks forward to his stories, but also knows it means bedtime.
-
We've literally had the same bedtime routine for years. Sticking with it and not changing anything works. Also, I let her know ahead of time that it's almost time to go up and start getting ready for bedtime. We usually play dolls in the evening so when it's time to go up, I will make whatever doll I'm playing with go to bed and she will put the others to bed. It's adorable
-
I still rock my 2.5-year-old to sleep.
-
@Ra: my 2.5 year old falls asleep on daddy and I think my Husband secretly loves it
-
I've given up trying to make her go to sleep and just accept that she will play in her room until she drops. It usually takes two hours...... but two hours of playing is better than the two hours of screaming we used to endure when she was confined to her cot. Sometimes we go back in and lie her down - the other night, she had fallen asleep standing up by the play kitchen.
-
Lots of books, dim lights, snuggling under blanket. Sometimes we turn off the light and tell the "story" of what we did that day.... Helps to get him calm.
-
We have a consistent routine. Bath, Pajamas, milk, brush teeth, books, cuddling, 2 songs, bed.
Recently, he'll cry out 10 minutes after we've left his room and he wants a few more minutes of cuddling. But he'll go back to bed pretty easily.
Good luck. I know many kids give their parents hell around bedtime. For that reason, we are hesitant to move him to a big kid bed!
-
We've had a routine since he was really young and that has helped a lot. We bring him upstairs, bath every other night, then pajamas, brush teeth, read books, turn on his white noise together, then kisses and into bed. He's so used to it that he doesn't fight it. Sometimes he'll hold up the last step with asking for extra kisses or a back rub but it only goes on for 5 minutes or so.
-
He has a bath, then has a cup of milk with 2 stories, then teeth brushing, then one more story. Then he helps turn off the lights, I give him a cuddle, sing one song and put him into his cot.
He used to go straight to sleep but since about 19 months or so he takes up to 2 hours to fall asleep! It is often close to 9pm before he's out. But he is totally content the whole time, just lays there talking to himself and rearranging his pillow etc. We are very lucky he is so independent about sleep, as his sleep needs are low. -
I've been fighting this back and forth a lot and like others have said, I've just resigned myself to the "lead the horse to water" approach. Our routine is fairly consistent and has been for ages, we just adjust the time based on when she usually falls asleep (which these days seems to be somewhere between 9:15 and 9:45). She takes a while to settle down and seems to need it, so unless she's trying to climb out of the crib or is upset, we leave her be and she'll fall asleep eventually. We are staring down the toddler bed transition soon, though, and that will be a whole 'nother ball of fun.
-
We have to lay with her until she falls asleep :S. She's 2.5 and while it's a "bad" habit, most of the time I don't mind because she won't need that forever and when that day comes I'll be sad!
-
We listen to an Adele song every night before bed...seriously calms her down!
-
Routine. After dinner we change into pj's (and do bath if its a bath night), turn down all the lights and we veg out and watch tv together. We get all snuggly with blankets and pillows. Sometimes we play games too or do other activities, but we try to keep them calm. At 730 we turn off the tv, DD gives good night kisses and hugs to DH and we go upstairs. Brush teeth, potty. Then into bedroom, lights remain off, new diaper, recite bedtime stories as I change her, lullaby, kisses and into the crib.
I think the darkness helps and doing calming activities also helps que her that it's time to wind down for the night. Turning off the TV is also a que that it's bedtime.
-
Consistent routine here too, similar to everyone else's. We've had the same routine since she was teeny and it really does help. One thing we do before both naps and bedtime is put on our white noise machine. She associates it with sleeping and I think that helps. She also has several loveys and blankets that she only uses in her crib.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
18 comments