Bedtime Routines - Fort Stewart,GA

Not to be oppositional here to the other responders, but there really is no need to push his bedtime later. That is a perfectly acceptable bedtime for his age and its a common misconception that keeping babies (or children) up later makes them sleep better or later in the morning. So not true! I think your routine sounds fabulous, why change what's not broken? Sounds to me (though I haven't read your previous post) that the night time waking and wanting to play should be handled by other means (ignoring, likely!) Please read the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child - it has been a life saver!

To more specifically answer your questions though - we have a 15 month old son. Around 6:30 or 6:45 we start our routine, which is really pretty short. If its a bath night, we do that first. Then to bedroom which we have very mellow with his fan on that he sleeps with, lights down, etc. We put on pajamas and then Henry has a sippy cup of water while we look at a couple of books. Then we sing our goodnight song and give mommy and daddy kisses. Then, put him in the crib and leave! I think the only difference when he was around your son's age was we did a bottle right before singing the goodnight song and putting him in his crib.

Good luck to you!

I think that sounds like a fantastic routine! The only 'tweek' I'd make is to push his bedtime back by 15 minutes or so every 3 night until you find that "magic bedtime" that keeps him from waking up to play.

We do clean-up, bath, jammies, stories, a little chat about the day, cuddles and tucking in - this is for my 3 and 5 year olds.

My 9 month old gets a bath, diaper and jammies, story, lullaby, and I nurse her to sleep.

Bedtime for everyone is 7:30pm.

Our routine is after dinner my children have showers one after the other. When they get out they put pjs on. When everyone has finished showers and pjs we gather for stories. My six year old reads one story to his brothers and I, and I read another story. Then it's vitamins, brush teeth, and into bed. Once in bed I kiss and hug and one lullaby, then lights out. That's at about 7.30 pm. My children are three, five and six.

I agree with the other mom's. Push back his bedtime. I would say 8 would be a good time to start with. Then adjust it from there. My son is 5 and we had to play with his bedtime from time to time but it always came back to 8. Even on weekends it's 8 unless we are over at the grandparents house or my husband and I go out. Every once in a while he does go to bed about 7:45 (that only happens when he is so tired and he can't handle staying up till 8). His routine at night hasn't changed much since he was a baby. It's still dinner around 5ish, playing until about 6, shower, brush teeth, a little bit of tv, a book and then daddy is the one who tucks him in (lately it's been me doing it since daddy is out of town for work). You'll find a time that is right for your baby.
Hope this helps.

K. - I envy you - my 9 month old boys NEVER went down at 7PM - they were up until at least 9PM and the reason he's waking up in the middle of the night to play is because his bedtime, in my opinion, is too early.

Our routine - even at the age of 9 and 11, is bath (shower now), brush (teeth and hair), book, bed, prayers. During the summer their bedtime is between 10 and 11PM...during the school year, it's 9PM. There is NO electronics for the last 30 minutes of their evening before bed...

But really - it's about what works for you and your family. I would personally extend his bedtime to 8PM and slowly get him to 9PM (over the course of 2 months say) during this time - add something special - like a game or something that you can do together...

GOOD LUCK!