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If you have a three-year-old, specifically one like JT who’s very strong-willed, you do whatever it takes to get them to sleep. For a while, Luke or I would have to lay down in our bed for hours with JT waiting for him to finally go to sleep. To put it lightly, this wasn’t working for us. Luke and I both wanted to spend time watching TV after the boys go to sleep (isn’t that the dream for most parents?) but instead we would be too tired after laying with JT to do anything but go to sleep. JT was becoming our bedtime dictator and I had enough! We needed a routine!

Finding a Routine

So where do I go when I have a problem and need some guidance? Pinterest! I’m one of those people who like to read a bunch of ideas and find one that works for me. After about an hour of “research”, I finally found an idea that we could live with.

One of the major problems with our bedtime routine was that there was no real routine. We didn’t have a set time when we would put JT to bed and we didn’t do the same thing every night. I think that was our biggest mistake. Children need a set time to go to sleep (there are exceptions on special occasions) and they need a heads up that bedtime is coming. With a routine in place, children know exactly what will happen next. That way their brains can slowly start to prepare for bed.

For more information on why a bedtime matters click this link: https://www.care2.com/causes/5-reasons-it-matters-for-kids-to-have-a-bedtime.html

The Bedtime Routine

The routine I picked out correlated with our ideas for what makes a good bedtime routine. The routine includes going to the bathroom, brushing teeth, reading books together, and JT going to bed in his own bed (not ours). Here is our routine (feel free to take it and make it your own):

1. We tell JT it is almost bedtime and that he needs to start cleaning up his toys.
2. Then We make him go to the bathroom and then brush his teeth.
3. We get his pull up and his PJs on.
4. Then We ask him to pick out two books an then we read them together on our bed.
5. We head over to his room and outside his door, we remind him that superheroes go to bed on their own.
6. Then We get him in bed and give him a big kiss and hug. I tell him that I’m going to start my timer for 10 minutes and when it goes off I will lay down with him.
7. We leave the door a little cracked open and start the timer. When the timer goes off I check on him. If he isn’t asleep, I lay down with him for about five minutes.
8. I tell him I’m starting the timer again for 10 minutes and will check on him when it goes off.
9. We keep repeating the 10 minutes gone, lay down for 5 minutes until he finally goes to sleep. Some days it only takes 10 minutes for him to go to sleep, sometimes it takes a lot longer.

I made a copy of this routine that you can print off and use:

The Results

I really feel like this routine works perfectly for my family because we got JT back in his bed. He understands when it is going to be bedtime. He knows if we ask him to clean up his toys that his bedtime is coming soon. Another reason this routine has saved us is that now Luke and I get some alone time at night so we can talk (but mostly watch TV). I’m very happy we finally found something that cured our little bedtime monster!

Thanks for reading,

Kel

If you enjoyed my bedtime routine post then you should check out my morning routine! https://tomorrowisamotherday.com/2019/03/20/morning/

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