May seem like a silly question, but we've been using a rocking chair to put kiddo to bed and as he's closing in on two, it's not really working anymore. How to parents put kids to bed? I've seen folks talk about reading them to sleep...
We've tried laying in the bed with him but he just rolls and plays.
Putting down to bed
Forum rules
1. This is an inclusive space
2. Be kind
3. No nudity
4. No violence
5. These rules will evolve as the forum grows and changes
1. This is an inclusive space
2. Be kind
3. No nudity
4. No violence
5. These rules will evolve as the forum grows and changes
-
JoshStrummer
- Posts: 12
- Joined: 10 Jun 2023, 17:25
Re: Putting down to bed
That pre-bedtime routine is important. We really started hitting that early, and it has paid off. Not long after dinner is bath time (we usually do bath alternating every other day), then it's jammies, storytime, bedtime bottle/sing her a song, toothbrushing and bed. My daughter is almost 17-mo, and sometimes she'll roll around and play too. We just let her do her thing as long as she's not upset and crying. It doesn't take long and she settles down on her own. Yours is a little older, so you're probably close to dropping the bedtime bottle. I expect that will be a tough shift for us.
Re: Putting down to bed
My kids are 5 and 7 and one of us still lays down with them most nights.
For that younger age, second the routine, and it was a lot of expectation setting. "I'll lay with you so long as you're trying to go to sleep," after story time, then reminding them of that 10,000 times and if they chose to play, leaving while saying, "I'm going since you're playing, I'll check on you in a bit."
For that younger age, second the routine, and it was a lot of expectation setting. "I'll lay with you so long as you're trying to go to sleep," after story time, then reminding them of that 10,000 times and if they chose to play, leaving while saying, "I'm going since you're playing, I'll check on you in a bit."
Re: Putting down to bed
We started early with her routine and it's been working. She is 16mo now.
We watch 2 episodes of bluey in what we call daddy lockdown (she sits in my lap, laying back, and early on she would fight it for 10-15 seconds so I would gently hold her down to show her she wasn't going anywhere.) She mostly just enjoys the music and calm show and melts and relaxes by mid second episode.
Then we go up for a change, pjs, then into her room we sit down in the chair, her in my lap or wife if she is doing it, we alternate, read her a book then put her in bed. Turn off the lights so only the dim nightlight is on and close the door.
Based on how tired she is, she can roll around and fiddle with her stuffed animal for 5-15 mins then settles and sleeps. If she is exhausted, she rolls over and is out in 2-3 mins.
For nap, we just take her up, change, pjs, read her one of her short board books, and in bed. Usually takes her longer side to settle and on rare occasions she starts playing and fiddling for 15-30 mins, but she always falls asleep eventually. Only 1-2 times where she just slips the nap (back when we had 2 nap days and she transitioned to 1 nap)
We watch 2 episodes of bluey in what we call daddy lockdown (she sits in my lap, laying back, and early on she would fight it for 10-15 seconds so I would gently hold her down to show her she wasn't going anywhere.) She mostly just enjoys the music and calm show and melts and relaxes by mid second episode.
Then we go up for a change, pjs, then into her room we sit down in the chair, her in my lap or wife if she is doing it, we alternate, read her a book then put her in bed. Turn off the lights so only the dim nightlight is on and close the door.
Based on how tired she is, she can roll around and fiddle with her stuffed animal for 5-15 mins then settles and sleeps. If she is exhausted, she rolls over and is out in 2-3 mins.
For nap, we just take her up, change, pjs, read her one of her short board books, and in bed. Usually takes her longer side to settle and on rare occasions she starts playing and fiddling for 15-30 mins, but she always falls asleep eventually. Only 1-2 times where she just slips the nap (back when we had 2 nap days and she transitioned to 1 nap)
-
StoplightRave
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 30 Jun 2023, 10:45
- Kids/ages: 1F
Re: Putting down to bed
We were using a rocker as well, was fine until she was waking up at 3am every night and wouldn't go back to sleep without an hour of rocking.
We used the Sleep Lady Shuffle to sleep train - it's in the book called The Sleep Lady's Good Night... , I found it at my local library, but there's also a free PDF with an except from that specific chapter. Takes about 2 weeks but worked great for us. You may need to do it more than once, esp if there's a big disruption in routine or sickness.
We used the Sleep Lady Shuffle to sleep train - it's in the book called The Sleep Lady's Good Night... , I found it at my local library, but there's also a free PDF with an except from that specific chapter. Takes about 2 weeks but worked great for us. You may need to do it more than once, esp if there's a big disruption in routine or sickness.