bed time routines....mine has gone to pot!

ELIZA_D

Hi there ...i have 2 boys,a 6 year old and a soon to be 2 year old.
They are now sharing a room and i cant seem to get a good routine going.
When i just had ds1 it was easy ! we would read a couple of books and he would sleep..job done.
Ds 2 came along and shared a room with me. I would put him down whilst ds1 watched simpsons or the like then i would go into ds1,we would read and all was settled.
Now they share a room. They eat their tea,play then have a bath........reading is difficult as their levels are differrent i do try but either one or the other gets bored. Ds1 is now in the habit of watching a dvd till 8 pm which i have tried to stop in the week cos of school.Got a meditation cd from relax kids which i love but does not seem to suit them both at the same time.....
They keep waking each other up or one relaxes and the other has an energy burst.......resulting in them both being awake NOW!!!!!
Any one got any tips....books...... help with a do it yourself loft conversion???

betterlife

hi i do really simpify with you as i`ve had the same problem over the years and still am. it would be so much easier if we could have big enough houses so each child could have there own room, if only it was that easy . i have 4 children 12wks, 2yrs, 4yrs and 8. the 2 oldest where sharing a room (boys) and it was really difficult because you try to treat them the same elsewhere but then its dificult for them to understand that one can go bed later than other. we did the dvd thing which worked at first they` both fall asleep which was great, but as they got use to it they`d end up getting up and playing, i`d spend my eveninggoing up and down he stairs, then my 2yr old girl would feel left old and she kept on getting out of bed! nightmare! now 8yr old has his own room and 2yr old girl and 4yr old boy share. we have stopped dvd`s at bedtime and they all go bed at 7pm even 8yr old but he is aloud his bedside light on and read for an hour or do homework in peace. so far this is working! wkends they stay up til 8pm and have dvd and popcorn downstairs like a cinema night unless ive had a busy day and need to relax. im hoping this continues to work as im trying to get 12wk into sleep routine as he does`nt sleep well at night so fingers crossed for him. ideally all have own bedrooms but we`d need a massive house! not sure what i will do in a few months when i want to put baby into another room. not much help im afraid i do wish you luck, it can be very tiring when all you want to do in the evening is relax but instead your up and down to kids. good luck x.

BernadetteN

We've got 4 kids, boys 12 and 10, and girls 6 and 3. It's mighty difficult trying to satisfy all their needs at once. Generally though, we stick as much to a routine as we can, starting at 8pm ish all have to put on pyjamas, fill the laundry basket, brush their teeth together and go to their bedrooms. The 12 and 10 year olds have their own rooms but often share still as they have shared until recently. They are given half an hour or so to read in bed or play cards. The 6 and 3 year olds also share. They get several stories read to them, either in their room or in the family bed, and they read to us too and their light is turned off a bit earlier than the boys at around 8.30, the boys get between 8.30 and 9pm depending on how tired they are. The girls sort of choose their own books or are led towards what we want them to read! They always get a book each so there is no arguing and now the 3 year old will sit there pretending to read to her sister or will read to herself if she is not interested in her sister's book. We've never had many toys in their bedrooms, at first due to lack of space but now because we know toys can be such a distraction at bed time. There is only one TV in the house and it's not in a bedroom either - I just don't think it's good to watch any TV or DVDs any time near bed time. On certain days, the girls will have a bath during the time the boys are reading in their bedrooms - now they are older there is no longer that wonderful soothing effect of a bath before bed and anyway we don't have hot water in our new bathroom yet so baths are currently very quick and not pleasant!

I couldn't cope doing a bed time for each child as it would take so much of the evening up so even though it's not cool for a 12 year old to go to bed half an hour later than his 3 year old sister, it's practicality that means that is what usually happens. The boys sometimes "pretend" to go to sleep for the girl's benefit and get to stay up longer, but I couldn't manage it if they were sharing a room.

I must say we are very strict when it comes to any form of screen entertainment, as we simply couldn't get all the homework done and after school activities if I allowed the kids to watch what they wanted. The TV is rarely on after dinner and there is no DS or Wii allowed from Monday to Friday night. Actually, I'd like the kids to watch more TV at the moment, French language only, but we don't have the time with the amount of homework the kids are being given!

mrcow

Is your one year old in a cot or a bed? I guess the ideal would be that by 7pm, the 1 year old is sleeping in a cot and the 6 year old is reading to himself in bed until say 8pm and then it's lights out.

This is what mine do (similar ages) but they do have separate rooms.The key is to make sure that the six year old is grown up enough and quiet enough to not disturb the younger one.

I'd stop any tv after dinner. I find it's not good before bed as it stimulates the brain.