How I Get My Toddler to Sleep

So I've had a few people ask me how I get my child to sleep so easily at night, so I decided to make it my next blog topic.  Quick and easy answer? ROUTINE ROUTINE ROUTINE!  Now, if you'd like more details, continue reading.

First of all, I will say, BEFORE I had a child, I naively thought "oh we won't change our social lifestyle when we have a kid, we'll just take them with us, and they can be well socialized and adjust to our schedule."  When I say naively, I admit..stupidly.   Now, not everyone has to have such a strict schedule with their child as we do, but no matter what you do, your lifestyle WILL change with a child.  So best I can tell you, be prepared that it's no longer about your schedule and what you may think you will always be able to do.   While we were living in Colorado, I had a coworker who had 3 kids under the age of 8, one who was autistic.  He had us over one night for game night, the kids did their bedtime routine, and were in bed and asleep by 8 (or maybe 8:30, I'm not completely sure).  They never once got up and asked for water, they didn't cry, they didn't ask for more stories, nothing... quiet the entire rest of the night while the grown-ups laughed and played games.  I was amazed and asked how they accomplished that.  He told me, we have NEVER compromised their bedtime, no matter if there was a friends party, no matter if there's a big event, no matter if they had company, the kids have always had the same routine and were in bed at the same time every night.  At the time I remember thinking how inconvenient...but clearly it worked.

It stuck with me years later when I had my own child, and has worked wonders for me.  If Tyler and I want to be out later than her bedtime, we find a babysitter, if we can't find one (which honestly we almost always do because we have been extremely blessed with family always be willing to watch her) we stay home.  I also read an article one time in a Parents magazine talking about the importance of the bed TIME because it sets their internal clocks.  Makes sense to me I guess.  

Also, make sure your child is engaged during the day.  Both physically and mentally being challenged and exerting themselves in play!  Vi rarely watches TV, mostly because it creeps me out how 'zoned out' she gets watching it, and I feel like it does nothing to challenge her.  TV can be a great tool, but I think works best with limits.  At the childcare, we get kids that parents doubt will sleep all the time, or that don't sleep on the weekends, but they always sleep at school.  My theory?  We have a naptime routine and time established, AND the child is engaged the ENTIRE day... I mean, that is what we're paid to do, teach them, play with them, encourage them, it's all about them, so they are engaged and exerting themselves, and therefore ready to nap at naptime!

Challenging both the mental and physical- doesn't always have to be running around to be engaged!

My bedtime routine is probably a little long for some parents, and I'm sure will be shortened when the second child arrives.  I enjoy bedtime routine, and find it to be a relaxing, special bonding time with my child.  I try to involve as many of the senses to be part of our routine so every part of her is used to the bedtime routine.  It usually goes like this:

  1.  Change diaper, put pajama's on, saying goodnight to daddy (or mommy depending on who is doing bedtime) and Rover and Snoopy, and get our blanket and 'night night'.  She only get her paci at bedtime, and same with her blanket, she loves her blanket and I think associates the touch and smell of it with bedtime. (Also, if you choose to use a paci, I LOVE the wubanub because the attached animal makes it easy for the child to put in for themselves and keeps it in place a little better in the night!)

   2.  Rubbing lavender on her forehead, nose and ears.  Studies have shown lavender to be used in the aid of sleep and relaxation, and because smell is the strongest of our five senses I believe it is a smart move to use in a bedtime routine, but that's just my theory.

Tyler's Aunt Cindy got us this when Vi was little, I love the smell and that it's all natural!

   3.  Turning off the light, turning on the sound machine and nightlight - setting the mood of the room and using both sound and sight to enforce that it is bedtime.

   4.  A bedtime story.  - I try to read Vi a huge variety of books but not at bedtime.  Since I'm all about routine at bedtime we usually always either read 'Goodnight Moon' or 'It's Time to Sleep My Love' while rocking in the rocker.

    5.  Sing a song, I sing "You are my Sunshine", and then we say The Lords Prayer, and then follow it up with another song, in which I usually sing "As the Deer" - I told you I make bedtime a little long!

    6.  As I lay her down in her crib, we say our quick "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" prayer, then I say 'I Love You', and walk out and close the door.

    7.  We do NOT under almost any circumstance, ever pick her up out of her crib at this point.  If she cries we either let her cry herself back to sleep or have laid her back down and covered her back up.  We also have never let her sleep in our bed.  Originally because when she was little we thought we'd squish her because we move around so much, and then we just like being able to sleep without her... some parents love sleeping with their kids.  I don't know that there is a 'right' or 'wrong' to that, we just choose not to.

95% of the time, she goes straight to sleep, and we see her in the morning.  There was maybe a couple of weeks in the last year and a half that she has been teething and bedtime was difficult and she just cried and cried, and I'd try to rub her head and soothe her, but we still have very rarely picked her back up.  In these cases of teething, we give her a dose of ibuprofen and try to help her get to sleep by rubbing her back.

Also, it is NEVER to early to start a bedtime routine, I honestly can't even remember when we started this routine, as it seems to have been in affect as long as I remember.

Hopefully some of you have found this to be a little helpful for now or the future (lots of preggo mommies out there!)  Like I said, I really love our bedtime routine, so make one your own, find a book you love, or song you want to sing your child and make it a special time to bond with your child not just be a way to get your child off your hands (which no matter how much I love bedtime, sometimes I do look at it that way, but not very often).

I know most of the moms I know have a bedtime routine of some kind, what have you found that you love most about your routine? Or is there some things that you learned just didn't help at all?