Toddlers: After Tea, Before Bed ....

[MissWooWoo]

....

After tea at 5 and a bath/shower we have an hour or so before it's time for bed. Does anyone actually do anything with their dc (my dd is 2.7) in this time? Mine watches tv (we have stories as part of the bedtime routine).

What do you do with yours?

Similar - tv or toys or books.

Try and get him to play quietly with something, or look at a book. TV goes on at 6.15 for 15mins or so before bathtime. If he's being particularly challenging we might look at the Sesame Street website, or something like that.

We have dinner a bit later than you (normally about 6 - 6.30 and then he goes striaght to the bath and then bed for stories.

Nods at Chillo. Thats what we do as well. DS1 finishes at 3 so home then play. I might do a SMALL snack to tide them over til tea. I start dinner at 5ish, and then when it is ready and served the boys know they have to pack up hie it cools down (wont eat anything hot!! Grrr!) and then dinner bath stories bed. Work a treat. DS's are 2 and 4

We do dinner according to DS's bedtime, so if he hasn't napped, we eat around 5.30 and he goes to bed by 7 at the latest and if he has napped he's normally starving by 6.30 so we eat then. Of course if he has had a nap then he won't go to sleep till 9

If there is time between dinner and bed he sometimes watches TV but more often (recently) plays on his own.

After tea we play games, and try to do quiet games. They go up at 7 so usually they will have a small snack and milk downstairs whilst watching Charlie and Lola. They are in bed by about 7:45. It's OK. Sometimes we have something special like I'll prepare a 'disco' for them with lights and music and they LOVE it. Sometimes we got o the 'pretend cinema' and they put their jim jams on early and we watch a movie until about 7:30. We are not very strict when it comes to bedtime!!

I let my dd1 (nearly 3) run around and do what she wants as she'll have been at nursery all day and needs some down time. She often ends up watching a couple of Charlie and Lola episodes while I put dd2 to bed. In summer, we go to the playground / park until bedtime. Love the idea of disco / cinema.

We eat at 6-6.30ish when DP gets home (unless he catches a later boat and then we might eat earlier without him if the DDs are tired).

Then, once tea is finished we generally head straight upstairs for bath, although that can include lots of splashing and can take a while as DP does it and it is such fun (not much of a calming sessions!)

Then it's stories, (milk for DD2) and bed. Now DD1 tends not to nap then they are usually asleep by 7.45pm

They do tend to have the TV on in the living room whilst I make tea though at 5.30ish - but do play or come in and 'help' or watch me too.

by the time tea and bath is finished I'm done in tbh! I'm sahm with no help during the day at all (join the club I hear you say ), where do you all get the energy from to do something by this time of the day? DD has just started nursery this week, 2 afternoons a week so maybe I'll find my energy levels are more up on these days (sleep is still an issue too but getting there)