Sleep routines for toddlers

I've seen a lot of blog recently posting about sleep routines, and since we have such a strong routine for Amelia I thought it was worth joining in. We stopped Amelia napping during the day at about 2 years old, not long after we went through the hard process of getting her out of our bed and into her own bed, in her own room. We followed the 'cry it out' method, and although it was horrendously hard and stressful - it was one of the best things I've ever done. It took about 3 weeks from start to finish and even now if her routine is disrupted for more then a couple of days then it's a struggle to get back into that routine.

Amelia goes to bed at 6pm on the dot, every night. She has a potty in her bedroom, so she wakes up by herself and goes to the toilet and then goes back to sleep. Her wake up time is normally between 7.30-9am but it varies every day. I'm quite strict on her bedtime routine and if she does get up in the night I simply explain to her that mummy and daddy are sleeping and that we won't keep getting up to her if she doesn't need us.

5pm - Dinner time
We all eat at 5pm. It's important to eat with your child so that they don't get distracted to do something else. If your child is eating but you are wondering around the house, they will want to follow you and know what you are doing. Also try and give your child the same thing you are eating, as if you have something different to them - they will want yours, not theirs.



5.30pm - Bath time
You should really have an hour between dinner and bed, but this has always worked for us so we have stuck with it. Make bath time, fun time. Add lots of bubbles and toys and one top tip is to use a night time bath wash as these do actually work. Some children seem to wake up more when they have a bath - if so then skip bath time and bath them in the  morning instead, but for us it makes bed time a lot easier.

5.50pm - Wind down after bath
Once Amelia is out of the bath and dressed for bed, I have to get her bedroom ready (tidy up, put her tv on, warm her hotty teddy up, put the potty in there and fill up her juice.) This is the same every night, she chooses a film to go to bed with and occasionally she will help me tidy up, although I try and get her to help me every night. Once this is done we put her dummy in our letter box and let her 'ring Peppa Pig' who brings it for her.

6pm - Bedtime
Amelia knows this routine very well now and rarely argues going to bed - some nights she will actually ask to go. One thing that made this routine a lot easier was taking the Dummy away during the day, as when she has it she would fall asleep - but now she knows that when she is allowed to ring Peppa it means that it's bedtime. Obviously we have our bad nights where she will get up 100 times - But as long as we are strict with her and tell her that we will only go to her if she actually needs up, she tends to give up and go back to sleep.

Every child will have a different routine, but I will definitely get Ezra into a routine and be as strict as I am with Amelia as it makes bed time so much easier, plus I get to have some time in the evening to myself. (The pictures are from a long time ago but I couldn't resist adding them - Such a cutie!!)