Bedtime! - West Jordan,UT

To get my kids back on schedule after holidays and such, I have to wake them up early in the morning, like 7:00am, tough on us sometimes, but it really helps. Then I have noticed if they don't get enough "active" time during the day, they have a harder time going to bed. I also try a lot of Supernanny techniques, keep putting them back in bed (takes 20 times for my 2 year old sometimes), but the next night he seems to only take a couple of times. And I try to stick to the same routine, p.j's, brush teeth, go to the bathroom, read a couple of books, say prayers, and lights out. I'd love to say we are very successful every night, but.....I still keep trying! Good Luck!

Hey J.,
My husband and I just went through this about 6 months ago with our 3 kids. At the time, my older two were 5 and 3, and my baby was 1. We were putting them to bed at about 10:00, then struggling to find time alone. We now put them to bed at exactly 8:00. It helped us to encourage the kids to tell us what time it was. We would prep them through the evening by saying, "Oh look. It's 6:00. How many more hours until bedtime?" We did this about 4 times until it reached 8:00, then they would say, "Mom, it's time for bed." They would go put on pj's, either myself or my husband would read them each a book of their choice(about 20 min.), we'd say prayers, and go to bed. We both tucked them in with a kiss, and armed them each with a sippy cup of water, so they couldn't come up with anything they needed. Each child has a nightlight, and they take turns using theirs. NO Television is in their room. They may squawk a little at first, but they do fall asleep faster without a distraction. For the first few nights, we had to remind them to be quiet, but we rewarded them for staying in bed the following day with something they enjoyed doing like playing a board game with mom. It works! Good luck.....it will pay off for you if you stick to your guns!:)

We actually started reading them stories onto a CD so that once snuggle/story time with Daddy (isn't he great for taking over so I can have some me time!) is over the kids can still listen to stories. We even got other family member invloved so that they can listen to aunts, uncles or grandparents!

Sometimes if they have been really good we let them watch a movie in their room as long as they stay in bed, don't adjust the volume (this way they have to be quiet in order to hear) all the lights have to be off, and it can't be an action movie that gets them all excited. Within the first 20 minutes they are out!

My kids don't watch tv so I'm good with 20 - 30 minutes at night if it helps them go to bed.

We found that with our two that share a room, we put one down, the one that will make the most noise then once they are asleep, we put the other one down. Usually about 1/2 hour later. Now they both go down around 9pm and are both asleep about 1/2 an hour later. It took some time, but it did work. It was hard in the beginning, and if your older one is not in a crib, you might have to sit in the room for a little while, until she understands. Good luck!