5 Tips for an Easier Bedtime Routine

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Are you searching for tips to help you create an easier bedtime routine at your house?

From finding ways to get your kids to sleep through the night, to getting them in bed in the first place – bedtime is a challenge for most parents.

 

Bedtime was a struggle at our house for a long time, until we began implementing some new rules that have turned the hour-long bedtime struggle into something calm and fun for every one!

Here are tips so you can have an easier bedtime routine at your house too!

1. The early PJ – Put pajamas on immediately after dinner when there is still plenty of time to play before bed. This will eliminate the struggle and dawdling that usually occurs when putting on pajamas and brushing teeth. If kids know playtime is next on the agenda they will rush through preparing for bed so they have more time to play. Later on, when it is bedtime you simply have to put them in bed, no struggle necessary! 
2. Count to ten – This is one trick we’ve used to stop most tantrums in our house, and it works great for bedtime too! If you have a child too small to understand time frames like ‘five more minutes before bedtime’, use the counting method instead! Say something like “we’re going to count to ten and then find a book to read before bed”! While a child might be too young to have a concept of time, they can recognize the numbers and it makes a quick and easier transition period for them, than just declaring it’s story time or bedtime right away.
3. Read stories – It’s a perfect way to calm down after a busy day. Sometimes our wilder kiddos will try to refuse the story and keep playing so we’ve enforced a “no story & straight to bed” rule for those who aren’t interested in sitting still to calm down a bit. Kids who are willing to sit get a story, and the others go straight to bed. No one wants to be sent to bed early, so this creates a calm time for every one to unwind together. – We’ve compiled a list of our favorite bedtime stories here. 
4. Use a sensory bottle – These are perfect for the kiddo who says he’s not tired. Super easy to make and it will keep him busy in bed until he drifts off to sleep. Check out the super-easy tutorial to make your own bedtime sensory bottle!
5. Wake them back up – I’m not kidding, this works! Becky from Your Modern Family had trouble with a kiddo getting up in the middle of the night every night. So she asked her doctor what to do, he suggested gently waking the kiddo up before the parents went to bed every night and tucking him back in. You can read the science behind it and her experience waking her kids up at night here, but I have tried this myself and it works! 

 

*bonus tip* – If your kids are waking up too early, try this tip from Your modern family!

How is your bedtime routine? Which of these tips are you going to try this week?

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