Bedtime Routine

It's 10:08 p.m. and Ajay is asleep. What I mean is he just now finally fell asleep. This is the result of his second (much needed) late afternoon nap and bedtime starting at 8:30 p.m.

On Sunday, his social-butterfly Granny reminded me she wants me to "condition" him to sleep anywhere at anytime so we can visit longer. Coincidentally, another doting Grandma made a similar comment about the time he goes to bed just yesterday.

Usually what was said in person between each of us would have sufficed, but after a night like tonight, I felt compelled to give some more details of what we do and why it works for our family.

This routine I'm about to outline has proven to work very well for us, so why would tonight be any different? Well, the teething thing is (still) going on and Ajay took two 2 hour naps today (catching up on his Z's). A later bedtime sounds great because then he'd sleep later in the morning and we'd love to visit longer, however, bedtime (and sweet, sweet sleep) is sacred around here.

After dinner at 5:30 p.m. (if we don't eat then, it's 8:30 p.m. before we sit down for supper), we have family time, which involves going for a walk, running around outside, stuffed-animal animation time (you know Chris is the boss of that department!) and sometimes a bath.

So, on a mostly regular day, bedtime begins with the 20 minute countdown/wind-down. The curtains are closed, the house is gradually tidied-up and quieted-down. Halfway through, Chris or I make eye contact with Ajay to say, "10 minutes till jammies." We hang out together a bit more until it's "Two minutes till jammies, Boots." That's between 6:30 and 7 p.m. During jammies, we talk about bedtime books and cuddles. When I set him down from the changing table, he hits the ground running to our bed, which is where we read for bedtime with a cozy setup of Ajay's blanket and 2-3 books.

Chris or I count "One...Two...Threeeeee!" and gently catapult him onto our bed. He squeals with excitement before we even say "two." It's so funny! Then he crawls to his spot between his dadda and me.

...Side Note...Lately, reading involves him flipping through the pages wildly and rolling about. I call this a free-for-all and it's not acceptable for bedtime. So reading time has been really short....

On a mostly regular day, we read for 10-15 minutes and then it's, "Say goodnight to Daddy." Hugs and kisses and wrapped in his blanket, he and I make way to the nursing chair in his room where he will usually fall asleep in 45 minutes or less. That makes the entire routine about an hour from jammies to sleep.

Maybe you're wondering what time he gets up in the morning. That's been extraordinarily variable lately (hello, 5:30 a.m. today!), but usually he wakes up for the day about 12 hours after he goes to bed (on a mostly regular day). And that's just fine with me!