Children And Bedtimes

There is no denying that bedtimes are a must in my house, for a number of reasons. You see, no matter what, I crave that itty bitty bit of time to myself after the 2 little ones are in bed. Sometimes I spend my time during the day making a mental list of what I will do once they are asleep. (i.e. paint my toenails, watch a DVD, stare into space) So I am constantly reading book upon book, searching site after site for things like what is an appropriate bedtime for a 2 year old. Or whats the best way to get the kids to sleep so they will stay asleep. Although all have "nice" ideas, they are all the same. You know the ones, "let them cry it out" why in the world would I want to allow my child to cry himself to sleep? That stresses me out. I also saw Dr. Sears on Dr. Phil who happens to be one of the nations leading pediatricians. He says that it is unhealthy to let your babies cry and cry. It raises their temperature and blood pressure etc etc. So I'm not going that route. I breastfed both of my babies and I sometimes will put the baby to bed in her crib after she is asleep. ( whoever suggested putting them in there while they are still awake must not have tried that) all that doe sis wake up the baby and piss them off to the point where there is no going back to sleep. At least with my kids anyway.I find that sleeping with them in bed until they are either A) no longer breastfeeding at night or B) about 14 months old works the best. I then put them in their own bed.

Once this is accomplished I move to getting them to sleep all night in it. I never give in to the middle of the night, sneak into my bed routine. As much as I would like to. I sit next to the bed and wait patiently without talking un till they fall asleep and leave the room. I do this even if they wake in the middle of the night and it works great. My son understands that once he is asleep, mommy will leave the room and that I am always close by if he has a bad dream.
My son goes to bed at 8:30, that may be late for some, but he needs 10 to 12 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period for his age of 2 and a half. He wakes at 7 and sometimes takes a half hour nap. This routine ( see future blogs for my take on children having a routine) works well for him and me because of the predictability of it all. I put my 8 month old to bed at the same time. It's fair and this way they are both asleep together and I am free. lol