What's your bedtime routine with 2 under 2 that doesn't depend on your significant other being around to help?
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Our bedtime is teeth, bath, jammies, book, crib.
If I'm lucky the baby (8 weeks) will nap through big brother's bedtime (just turned 2) in the swing. Otherwise I wear her if she's fussy or she just hangs out next to us on the floor of the bathroom, them the floor of his bedroom. I really try to make the last moment of the day just me and big brother, so I do my best to set the baby down in the other room for that last tuck into bed moment. Then after big brother is down the baby and I hang out or nurse until she is ready for her diaper, swaddle, rock routine. Without my spouse what's harder is that my evening chores have to wait until baby is asleep, but just the kid wrangling part is pretty easy. -
When DS2 was very small and still took lots of catnaps, I would bathe big brother and get him ready for bed during one of those cat naps. So the exact time tended to change every night. If it was a perfect night, DS1 would fall asleep no problem. My issue was that DS1 needed me to fall asleep (and still does) so some nights were a cluster when both boys needed me at the same time. What would work often was putting DS2 in the rock n play next to the bed where I laid with DS1. I'd rock him and they'd both fall asleep at the same time.
Some nights included a lot of crying from all three of us, but we made it through. Once DS2 was around 4 months, I did joint baths and put him in one of those bath sling chairs. Juggling getting them out of the tub took practice. I did DS2 1st and then DS1. Then I'd put on a tv show for big brother while I put little brother to sleep.
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My kids are a little older now but when J was a newborn I would: Feed big sister dinner while wearing baby brother in the carrier or sometimes nursing him on the couch that is visible from the table. Then I would bring the bouncy chair upstairs to the bathroom and fill the tub. Go downstairs and get big sister to bring her up to the tub. Usually the noise from the running water would chill the baby out a bit. Then I would bring the bouncy chair in to big sister's room and get her dressed for bed, brush teeth, sit with her in her rocker while baby brother was still in the bouncy chair and read them a book and sing a song. This was the worst part because he would often scream through the whole thing and I just felt so bad because I couldn't give either one of them the attention that they deserved. Then I would tuck the big girl in to bed and bring the baby into his room to nurse and put to bed.
Just remembered - sometimes I would bring M's small purple chair upstairs to her room and make a big deal that she got to sit in the big girl chair for story time. That way I could nurse the baby to keep him quiet while I read her stories. She missed out on the snuggles but at least there was less screaming.
It's horrible but it's short lived. Now that J can sit up on his own (and has been for a few months) I can bathe them together which they both enjoy and read / sing to them together. It's a whole different ballgame. I keep trying to remember that I'm the oldest of 3 and I'm not scarred from the whole thing.
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Mine is generally - family style dinner with everyone, and then clean-up. By that time, baby is usually pretty screamy, so we chill out and watch TV on our bed while I nurse baby. Then we do "wash wash", brush teeth, pjs on each girl. I leave baby on our bed while I go and put big girl to bed with a story. Then I finish getting baby down for the night, and put her in the crib in our room.
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