Hellobee Boards

I get dd1 ready first....PJs, potty, teeth brushed... then while I'm putting dd2 down, dd1 can play on her iPad, with her magic clip dolls or her magnatiles in the other room. Then as soon as dd2 is down, dd1 and I play together for a few more minutes then head right to bed. Now that they are older (18 months and 3.5) the process is much easier to do solo.

@Boogs: yep, my big girl goes to bed first because my wee guy needs the quiet to settle down!

My kids (4 and almost 2) shower together then once I've got them dressed and ready for bed they both climb into the big one's bed to read stories together. My big girl is happy to put herself to sleep while I nurse her brother before he goes into his cot.

@travellingbee: whenever I have to do this, I panic and cry a little! It's SO HARD. F is 4 and C is 13 months with a strict 6:30 bedtime window My best thinking this past week was some PBS while I put the little one down. Sadly, that leads to a mega-meltdown when the tv goes off Husband is going on 3 separate week-long trips this spring, so I better figure something else out!

I am pregnant with number two - and both my husband and I have jobs that demand more than 40 hours a week. 3-4 nights a week he gets home around 8 (after bedtime) and 1 day a week I stay late and he does bedtime solo. We basically never do it together. I need a reality check ladies - is this going to be possible with two kids? I want to manage expectations.

Edit to add last night he worked until 11pm - which use to happen all the time, and now is about 3-4x's a month.

It's changed over time. I was solo tonight (Dh had to work a little late and of course got in about 20 minutes after I'd gotten both kids to bed....he has a knack for knowing exactly when all the work is done, haha).

When LO2 was younger, it was a lot harder. DH had a few OOT trips when LO2 was only 4-5 weeks old and that was rough because she was still having her witching hours, I was on maternity leave so both kids were home with me 24/7. Back then, I had to put the oldest to bed first (generally while the baby screamed in another room), and then I would have to leave the oldest wide awake while I comforted the baby--at least it taught LO1 to go to sleep by herself, but there were a lot of tears involved.

Not that they are 3.5 and 18 months it's so much easier. Now they eat dinner together, bathe together, I do pajamas and all that together, and then I read 2 stories in LO1s bed to both kids, kiss LO1 and leave her and take LO2 to her crib, where I put her in her sleep sack, give her the paci and blankie, etc. It's much easier/smoother now. I had both girls in bed by 7:10 pm tonight, haha.

@JoyfulKiwi: I sympathize! My husband has a trip to London in May for 6 days/night. I'm kind of dreading it, but just because of all the extra work for me in general, not bed time specifically. I already make dinner and pack lunches, but now I will have to do their breakfast before I leave at 6:45 am too! uuuugh

I do this multiple times a week.

Dd is 8 months and ds is almost 3.

At 7 we head upstairs. I get their jammies and baby's sleep sack on our bed. Both kids in the bath, dd is super quick. She still hates the bath! I take her out, lotion, jammi's, sleepsack. I sit on the toilet watching ds while I give her a bottle (I pump so she can have a big bottle before bed). When she is done her bottle (around 730) I run to her room and put her down and run back to the bath. I'm gone for about 30 seconds which I am fine with now that he is almost 3 and I have him start draining the bath before I go. Then I finish bathing ds.

Dd probably half the time falls asleep while having her bottle. The other times she falls asleep quick once I lie her down (I think... I lie her down and leave and by the time ds is finished his bath she's sleeping).

Ds is usually in bed between 745-8.

Things that help are lying out everything before hand. When I have spare time I get the PJs, milk, etc all ready. I have their noise makers on, etc.

@travellingbee: we do this all the time! Kids are now 5 and 19 months but the basics have been the same since about 8/9 months?

Everyone brushes teeth.
Everyone gets a bath.
LO1 gets in pjs on her own while I get LO2 in pjs.
LO1 likes to come upstairs and we brush her hair.
LO1 watches a show on the iPad in my bed while I nurse LO2 to sleep down the hall.
When done, iPad is off.
Go to her room, read a story, put her to bed.
Do all.the.things to get ready for the next day!

@JoyfulKiwi: we have worked really hard on the idea that a "show" at bedtime is a privilege that is earned. If she can't turn it off when it is over, she loses it for the next night. I will also take it away for excessive misbehavior. If she lost her show, she will play in her room or my room until LO2 is asleep.

We usually do this for a week or two at a time minimum so it helps that everyone gets used to the routine.

Depending on the day, it was anything from setting up a play station area, putting on a show, getting baby ready while at the dinner table or once I even had my SIL on FaceTime with DD1 and she went through everything with her to get her ready for bed. It was amazing! They are 2y9m apart and it's so helpful that she can sit in the tub and get out in her own now at 4. DD2 uses to take longer for bedtime when she was 0-8m but now she goes down easily and quickly. They have about an hour between bedtimes now so we have the time to kill. I'm actually looking forward to when DD2 can hang and we can all read books together and such and then put them down at the same time. Since bedtime routine stretches for 1.5 hours because of the staggered bedtimes.

I haven't figured it out with four yet since the twins don't really have a set bedtime yet.
With two we just get everyone ready, then read stories together (this part is the same whether it is solo or not) after that it's off to their respective beds/rooms and I tell them another story and sing their good night song out in the hallway between the two rooms. Not nearly as bad as one would think.

I'm alone M-F, and I have a 4 year old DD and 7 month old DS. His bedtime is technically before hers. I get both of them ready for bed together, and then she likes to cuddle with us and help read stories to him. Then we turn lights off and I nurse him. Most of the time she falls asleep next to me, and I just transfer her to her bed. If she doesn't fall asleep, we move to her room after DS is asleep and finish her bedtime routine.

@oskarsmommy: DS is 3 and DD is 6 months and our bedtime routine with her/both of them keeps changing. We kind of forgot what it was like to have a baby that young and have things changing a lot. DS has same routine every night - 7pm bath (most nights), PJs, books, potty, bed.

But with DD it's all over the place. At first when she was born I would nurse her around 7 and we'd all do stories together in our bed. But now she's too distractible and needs a really early bedtime. So by 6 or 6:30 I have to take her up and put her to bed. It would be really difficult for me to do alone because she gets too distracted by DS and DS doesn't like to get left alone, even with his tablet. And because she needs such an early bedtime, I wouldn't be able to do DS first. But I think you just have to find the system that works for your family. If your LO1 can sit quietly looking at a book a tablet, you may have no problems. Mine can't sit still to save his life . And as Anagram pointed out, when they get a little older and have the same routine it'll be *much* easier.