Parental Advice Sought: Bedtimes

[omahas]

I'm a bit at my wit's end regarding this issue. For several years now, Elf and I have been putting Yamaarashi-chan and Kouryou-chan to bed at about 9 pm, for a 6:45/7am wake up (6:45 for Yamaarashi-chan, 7 for Kouryou-chan). In the mornings, Yamaarashi-chan wakes right up. Kouryou-chan does not

Comments

[codeamazon]

A couple of ideas

[tbclone47]

Orion's been a challenged sleeper since day one. When I try to get him to bed on a school night by 8:30, it still ends up being 9:30 before he's asleep (sometimes later). Tonight I let him stay up later (no school this week). Sometimes he seems to nodd right off, sometimes not. But we have got a system down, a night time ritual (pjs, teeth, night time potty, reading in the "reading chair" (unless it's gotten way too late), and bed. I also generally will lie in bed next to him for a while because he really likes it, and personally, I don't mind the time relaxing. Sometimes I'm tired enough that I drift off with him. For whatever reason, even though he might not get to sleep right away, he is quiet, and (as he says) just hangs out until sleep overtakes him.

Not a parent, but...

[ladyallyn]

Speaking of my own experience from early childhood until today, and that of partners I've had, two thoughts

[lisakit]

Good point about the stretching/meditation. I had to do some serious stretch work, starting with a self massage with my smelly oils for the pain, moving into the stretches, then some meditation, before I was able to settle enough to try going to bed again last night.

Obviously I wouldn't recommend this highly involved, nearly 2 hour ritual for the kid, but even just a few stretches definitely calm me and get the jitters out of my bones. Also, that one night I babysat and you were out later than usual (remember she ended up falling asleep on the couch with me?) I did talk her through the body meditation Tabbifli mentioned above and it seemed to help ease her anxiety a little.

[slfisher]

My daughter will be 8 in April and she goes to bed by 8 pm. She used to get up at 7 am and started being late for school. I told her if she couldn't get to school on time, we'd need to move her wake-up time. It's currently at 6:30 am but she gets a few minutes of cuddle time when she wakes up.

She has a CD she listens to at night on a timer. She uses a dental rinse where you can't drink for 30 minutes after it and that takes care of a lot of the "I need a drink" problems. She has a bedtime routine that ideally starts at 7:30 involving putting on her jammies, brushing and flossing her teeth, and brushing her hair. Theoretically I read to her but we rarely have time for that, it seems like.