Bedtime made easy

Bedtime is, dare I say, easy at our house.  We pretty much do baths, books, and bed by 7-7:30pm every night.  There is rarely ever a fuss about going to bed.  That is our routine, and we stick to it.  It has always been this way ever since our babies were old enough to go to sleep that early.  There is no rocking to sleep or bribery to get in bed.  They just do it.  Now yes, I know some will say they rock their babies to sleep, because they are only babies for such a short time.  The problem is that baby who is rocked to sleep turns into a toddler who wants to be coddled to sleep, and ain't nobody got time for that.  I mean that in the nicest way possible, but when I hear the horror stories of bed times at other's people's houses I just cringe.  I think to myself, "wow, that sounds terrible."  Don't get me wrong, I think it is pretty obvious that I love my kids to death, and I want to spend as much time with them as possible, but bedtime is just as important to them as it is to me.  They need structure, they need a routine, they need boundaries set.  Are there times when I let them stay up later?  Absolutely, but they know that typically we eat dinner, we get baths, we read books, and we go to bed.  It's that simple.

Selfishly I need that time to decompress, to have some adult time, to watch tv other than Curious George or Elmo, to have a glass of wine in peace.  It is good for the soul, good for our marriage, good for the kids.  People told me, oh just wait until he is in a big boy bed, things will change.  But, here we are transitioned to a big boy bed, and he still knows his limits.  He knows not to get out of bed until morning.  Of course there were a couple nights where he snuck out of his room when we first transitioned him, but he quickly learned he would be returning right back to his bed.  So now, it is a rare occasion that he escapes from his bed at night.

I am no expert in parenting or sleep training, but this is just what works for us in our home.  We have never let the kids sleep with us, and that is one place where I draw the line.  You let them in once, and you will regret it.  I heard stories from too many parents on how their child shows up in their room at 2am every morning to get in bed.  No, don't think so...

I think everyone is happier when they get a full uniterupted night of sleep.  The best way to get rid of bad habits is to never start them to begin with.  We are the adults here, we make the rules, we set the example.  If you don't want your kids running around at 10pm, then don't let them.  It's that easy.