Not quite large family but you could help?? Bed time??

[PoppetUK]

Hi there,

I have a DD 6. DS 5 and a 20 month old. Until last year the kids were always down by 730 but with 3 things seem to be getting later.

I bath the kids every night, I read school books / baby books with them individually. The only quiet time I get with the eldest two is after number 3 is asleep. I do value this time.

Do any of you have any tips on how to get the kids down a good time? I guess I have to keep nap time shorter for DS so that he can be in bed earlier.

What do you compromise on? Stories, bath etc? Do you concentrate on getting tidied up after they are in bed? I'm also thinking dinner needs to be earlier?

Any tips appreciated.

Poppet

I have 4 and I found that it became a bit easier when I decided to bath them every other day. I worked out which nights seem to be best as a bath night (Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday) and then give them a bath Saturday morning or afternoon too (this they see as a real treat - I put loads of toys in). Also on Friday I let the older ones have a "special treat" - a story CD, with lights off. It gives me a bit of a break but they still get a story. If they go to sleep well during the week, on Saturday I let them stay up a little later to watch a DVD of their choice before bedtime - the only night they do this. They have an earlyish 5 o'clock tea, but I do toast or plain biscuits with their bedtime milk or hot chocolate. I get the children to tidy their toys downstairs before going up at about 6 but tidy up other stuff when they've gone bed. Hope that helps. Now my 2 eldest ds's are 8 and 10 they want to read their own books - I thought I'd be gutted by this but I'm still involved and they say I don't read enough for them anymore lol!

Thanks Cathycat. That's helpful. Some good ideas there. A Saturday night reward would be good in our house. I sometimes wonder what is realistic to expect because I would be one of those that tries to do the same as if I had just the 1 child.

pretty much the same here, we bath everyother day in 2's lol

ive got 4dc 3 boys and a girl
friday night they tend not to be able to stay up much past there bed time due to being tired from school
again we have a free for all night on a sat where we will watch a film and munch on popcorn together

weeknights they are all in bed by 7.30pm
we have issues with ds2 as he is suspected aspergers and adhd so the hyperactivity tends to get in the way as im sure you can imagine
he may not go to sleep till 10-11pm but he knows he must stay in bed reading ect as weve made it part of his routine
hes up by 4.30-5am so having at least in bed allows for a little human time

Thanks Bellylicious. Always good to hear from others. Just having three seems to be more than most around here. I like speaking to mums with more because they often offer the best advice because they've had to manage it. It wasn't until I lost a child the other day I realised how much different it felt. How they got heard more easily. Back to the three of them and it's mum mum mum x3 :)

sorry how different I mean :)

I bathe mine wednesdays and sundays in twos though I'm trying to convince ds1 to shower then I can do the other 3 together. I do their reading practice at a different time and read the younger ones bedtime stories, the eldest reads. The eldest sometimes stays up a big longer but hes 7.
The 21 month old I get ready for bed after the others are sorted.
Bedtime is both the best and worst point of my day

I've got 3DS (nearly 6, 3 and 18 weeks).

I bath them 2-3 times a week .

Bedtime has go earlier since DS1 started yr1 as he was getting so tired.

If having a bath we all head upstairs at 6, if not we go up at 6.30.

I put DS3 in Moses basket with night light/projector on and he normally drops off to sleep.

DS1 has my ipod on docking station in his room and listens to a Roald Dahl story while he falls asleep.

This leaves me free to read a couple of books to DS2 till he drops off.

At first was worried that DS1 would feel neglected but he really enjoys listening to story in his room.

Must admit that on nights when DS3 is cranky it is more challenging but I just try and put him to the boob while reading to DS2.

I also have 4 ages 10, 8, 5 and 15 months it is easier now the older 2 read to themselves and dc4 goes to bed easily.My problem is that they now go to bed later dd1 who will be 11 in March doesn't go to bed until 9pm.

I have always done an early tea usually when they come in from school which gives me time to clear up while they play,homework baths,showers bed.I don't worry if they don't have a bath everynight as they aren't usually very dirty.