How to do bedtime with 3yr old & 12wk old? Please share your systems/routines.

[izpie]

So dd1s routine is story & milk downstairs with dh, then brush teeth, then I get her changed and do songs in bed then lights out. She goes to sleep easily on her own. Dd2 has no routine yet, she stays downstairs with us, sometimes asleep on us/in chair, until we go to bed then nappy change, in grobag, bf to sleep.

Moving dd2 into her cot at the weekend & would like to reclaim our evenings by starting to put the girls to bed at the same(ish) time. just wondred how everyone else organises bedtime for 2dcs.

Thanks

Mine are now 2 and 4, but as I remember (through babybrain mush) think we used to do this:

6.30pm Dd1 into the bath, baby either lay on the floor on the mat or into the bath with me holding
6.40pm get baby out and dressed
6.45pm get 3yr old out and dressed
6.50pm BF baby whilst reading 2 books to Dd1
7pm both in bed to sleep

baby would be left on the floor or chair whilst i was dealing with my dd1.....

hope this helps!

DD2 now 11 months old and DD1 is 3.5 yrs. But I have largely stuck to the following routine since she was a few weeks old.

• Bath both girls
• Get them dressed into PJs (well, I dress DD2, DD1 gets herself dressed)
• Read them both a story
• BF DD2 while DD1 'reads' for a few minutes
• Lights out & bed.

It normally works. Try and get them to bed by 7.30pm but more often it's 8pm.

Congratulations

I get both bathed together, everything in the bathroom beforehand, out of bath and into Jim jams. Ds sits and watches one episode on tv with milk and snack while I bf dd. Then both listen to dd's story, she goes into crib. Ds brushes teeth, last wee and into bed for his story. I like doing this as it gives me and ds some one to one time-which we find hard to get the rest of the time!

the key for us is having the baby swing in the bathroom.
start at 6pm
dd2 in swing,
dd1 changed, in bath and washed
dd1 plays in bath
dd2 in bath, washed, dressed, back in swing
dd1 out of bath and dressed.
both girls downstairs at 6.25pm
milk for dd1, bf for dd2 while i read a story.

stick a story cd for dd1 on at about 6.40.
dd2 up and settled.
back down to dd1. hair, teeth and up to bed.

done and dusted and feeling smug by 7pm

most nights back up again to dd2 very shortly, with smug glow long gone .