Reply to not doing bedtime

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "not doing bedtime"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Op here - I was just curious how many nights you personally aren’t doing the drudgery of bedtime regardless of why or who else is doing it.  I have a 1 and 2 yo and 5 nights a week i do their bedtime on my own and it’s a 1.75 hour endurance event of forced cheer.  The other two nights I participate in one or both nights still. On any given day it’s fine, but by the 5th day in a row on my own I’m practically fantasizing about my sisters life (she has a 6 and 9 year old and spends tons of time with her kids but only personally does their bedtime 4 nights a week and it’s a much easier and shorter process at that stage)[/quote]

OP what is your bedtime process? What's included in the 1.75 hour endurance event?[/quote]

Not OP, but at that age, for us, it was like...

15 minutes-- "It's time to start bedtime routine"/last tiny snack/general wrangling/maybe picking up last toys
30 minutes-- Potty, bath, including drying off and everything
15 minutes-- Get two kids into PJs and brush teeth/etc.
30 minutes-- Reading
15 minutes-- Maybe a lullaby or nursing or something, but actually getting two toddlers into bed and ASLEEP or close to it can take this long

Total = 1.75 hours

Now, we are pretty low-key and slow-going so this was nothing to be "corrected" IMO because as long as the kids get into bed at the time you want them to, what does it matter if you were spending 45 minutes playing or whatever and then an hour total getting them to the point of sleep, or the same total amount of time getting them to the point of sleep?

But that said, I empathize with the teeth gritting involved! I've realized it's because I am anticipating when they will FINALLY be asleep and I can either sleep or do my own thing, so I can sometimes feel very very impatient, especially towards the end. But I realize that's me and needing to take a deep breath and roll with it. It's another thing entirely if they are stalling and it's getting way too late or whatever, but if everything is going reasonably well and ending at the right time.... I think it's just kind of a fact that most parents are at the ends of our patience and can't wait for the kids to be in bed, which can make us feel more resentful and more quick-tempered... which can lead to a bit of a vicious circle as kids pick up on it.

But the other factor, of course, is getting help and not doing it every night, if at all possible. Because of everything I said above, it can be mentally/emotionally a little taxing, no matter what.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics