Skip to Content

BEDTIME SHENANIGANS

Oh, bedtime!

 

Our schedule at 1.5 years old has become a little bit more relaxed at bedtime. It is summer, meaning that daddy will be working longer hours. Your typical bedtime has been 6:30/7 pm. Lately, however, it was taking you about an hour to fall asleep. So, we decided to see what would happen if you went to bed closer to 7:30/8 pm instead. Turns out, you fall asleep pretty instantly! You also get more time with Daddy. WOOHOO! Maybe…

 

Our bedtime routine is pretty simple. We usually have some playtime upstairs after dinner, and occasionally go out and do something fun with daddy like go to the fountain! Once it is bedtime, however, your routine is pretty straightforward and short.

 

Bath has never been a part of your bedtime. You don’t get baths every day, so we didn’t want it to be part of the “routine”. If you do get a bath, it is right before we start the bedtime routine.

 

When you were younger, we had more specific things that we did. (info on those routines can be found here)

 

Here is the bedtime routine now (at 18 months):

– Brush teeth

– Go potty

– Change clothes

– Read story

– Turn on sound machine

– Bed

 

Lately, you’ve been doing something that is both exciting and annoying! LOL

 

Riiiiight before we lay you down in your crib, you ask for “wawa” or water. You are speaking and trying to talk, so we are super pumped about this! You also seem to know full well that you are delaying bedtime, however, and seem to do it on purpose. We are having to limit the number of times we give in to your request. You now get water once.

 

You are also asking to go potty (riiiiiight before bed, and yes you got to try and go potty during our above bedtime routine). This one is tricky. You are not yet potty trained, but we are well into our training. You are asking to go, so we want to honor that request and take you to the toilet. HOWEVER…. again, you seem to be taking advantage of the fact that you know it will buy you an extra ten minutes here and there. We allow you to try, because it is fantastic that you are asking to go! We are also starting to have to limit how many times we allow you to try, and how long we allow you to sit there! We are now letting you try once, and then telling you to call us if you have to go later, or to feel free to go in your diaper (unless you have to poop).

 

When all is said and done…you’ve almost pushed your bedtime to 8:30 pm the last few days! WHAAAT!?!?! You sneaky girl, you! haha

 

I’ve also noticed (and am wondering if it’s correlated), that you are SUPER cranky during the day. And it’s not really something to notice…it’s the kind of cranky that reaches up and slaps me in the face (tantrums ALL morning long, nothing makes you happy and we both end up frustrated). With our decision to make bedtime a bit later, and your shenanigans to stay up, we have cut into your sleep a little bit more than we wanted.

 

Tonight, we decided you will be going to bed earlier again to see if that helps you (and me) out in the mornings.You aren’t sleeping any later by the way. I’ll be interested to see if an earlier bedtime helps your crankiness. You are also getting molars (3 of them and it is dragging on). So, this could be part of the issue we are seeing with regards to your mood, extra tiredness and lack of wanting to eat much.

 

So tonight, earlier bedtime, and you get water once, and you get to try and go potty ONCE. LOL It is fascinating to see how much you understand lately (even if you are taking advantage).

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 5 / 5. Vote count: 1

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.