How long does it take to do your toddler bedtime routine?

[Horehound]

We start running DS bath at 6pm, say 10 mins to fill, 20 mins in bath then into his room where he doesn't want nappy on and wants to run around but naked playing. Has cost milk and cosy Weetabix. Into pyjamas, bit more playing then books and bed. Then to sleep takes more time so by the time I come down stairs it's 8pm! 2 hours from bath to bed?! He's almost 21 months.
I don't know how to stop him playing when all his toys and play kitchen are in his room

If he wants to run around playing are you taking him up to bed too early?
I’d take the toys out of his room if you’re able to for now

At that age I would do brush teeth, bath for about 15 mins, into PJs (wrestled if necessary), 1 story, turn out the light, kiss goodnight and leave. Probably about 30 minutes start to finish excluding bath running. I don’t keep many toys in the bedroom; just soft toys, books and a couple of small things to occupy them if they wake early.

I have two under five and I aim to keep the whole thing to under an hour if they’re having a bath. If they start messing around I stop reading stories. It’s hard but I think you need to be a bit more militant. 20 mins is a long bath. And eating weetabix seems a bit of an odd part of a nighttime routine- can they not just drink milk while you read a story?

Could you do stories in your room on your bed so there’s no toys to distract?

We do milk downstairs at about 5.45pm then up to run bath at 6.10, 15 mins bath and then straight into nappy and pyjamas.

DD (just turned 2) loves stories so knows she won't get as many books if she messes around. Strict into bed at 6.50 and asleep by 7pm normally. I do sit with her until she asleep though.

Hi my dd is 2yrs and our routine is upstairs at about 6.10 she watches iPad on my bed while I run bath and sort her clothes for the next day.. about 6.30 in bath and she plays for 10mins then I pick her out and she brushes her teeth at the sink.. I pick her up and go to my bed to dry and put her nappy and pjs on.. then into sleep bag and I carry her to her dark bedroom .. we sit together for ten minute cuddles then I put her to bed with her cuddly toy awake and walk out and close the door .. to which she usually sits up says ooo oh and then lays back down and goes to sleep

About half an hour when it was just DD and now 45 minutes with two; milk before bed downstairs, go up at 6,45 bath takes tops 15 minutes from filling it up to getting out and then getting into pjs and story. I didn’t find that my DD needed supper after having dinner at 5-5.30.
If you want to shorten it then spend less time in the bath, be firm about getting ready and then do his story whether he’s sitting ready for it or playing. DD used to start playing with her toys so I’d just read her story while she played then into bed.
There’s nothing wrong with what you’re doing but if you’d like to get a bit more evening back then you can.

My oldest is 3.5, at 10 to 7, we do teeth, gro clock on, into sleeping bag and into bed then story and/or song for 5/10 mins. He does stay awake in bed and play with teddies etc for a while then falls asleep which is fine as we are downstairs at this point.

We did have a longer routine before when he was younger but like you I was getting fed up with sitting down so late with barely any time for ourselves before our own bed time... so I started Googling and I read somewhere that the routine doesn't matter as long as it's the same cues for the child every night that it is bed time, so we shortened the routine and it has worked great ever since (we do shower/bath in morning instead of at night)

I hope whatever you do works and you get sitting down earlier soon! ☕🍰

It takes us about an hour to get 20
Month DD on her cot on bath nights (she doesn’t get a bath every night due to eczema).
We can’t start before 6.30 and she’s not asleep until after 8.

Hmm ok I down Der if we are starting his bath too early then. He has dinner at nursery at 4.30ish so when we pick him up at 5.30 he has a snack of grapes/cheesey cracker and juice. Then after bath has his cosy milk and Weetabix (usually a half a Weetabix actually)
I personally feel 4.30 is a but early for dinner and really we do it for ease. We just send him in with the dinner and nursery feed him when he is 2 that stops though so he will then be having dinner at home with us around 5.30/6idh so he wouldn't need that snack.
The bath I just let him play on as long as he likes. Sometimes he takes the plug out after five mins or sometimes he wants to stay in ages and doesn't want to come out even if all the water has gone!

Trouble with the toys is that the house has bugger all storage so all his toys are out on display in his room. I'm organising built in wardrobes but the guy isn't free until August. I think if we can get them away that would help not stimulate him. We do take him from bath into darkened room with nightlight but that won't stop him playing!
Its interesting reading about the cues of the routine because yeh, if he's playing and u start reading and he isn't interested, I just stop. So next time I will just carry on and then he can go to bed.
Never trained him or left him to go to sleep on his own. He screams if i leave the room. Next issue to address is that and get dh to do bedtimes but we were waiting until he got over his latest set of teething.
Think we actually started at 6.15 tonight and I'm down at 8. I used to have dinner after bed time routine but found myself getting so hangry I had to tell DH we are now eating before doing the routine!

In our house at that age:

6pm upstairs to bathroom. Potty time while bath is being run
6:10 - Bath for 15 mins
6:25 - Nappy and PJS
6:30 - Milk and stories
6:45 - Clean Teeth
6:50 - Back into bed and lights out for cuddles and songs (a couple of nursery rhymes)
7:00 - Sleep time (we leave the room)

Kids generally woke for the day at around 6:30am at that age and had a 2 hour nap at about 1pm, so were tired enough to go to bed without a fight. We never got toys back out after dinner time so they never looked for them at bedtime.

DD has all her meals at nursery Tues-Fri and just a snack at home. We eat our main meal at lunchtime and then have supper about 8.30/9 once DD asleep. Stops us being starving.

We only have books and soft toys in bedroom, everything else lives downstairs and looks like a toy factory (we also have no storage. I feel your pain).

Ours is the following for my 23 month old..

6.15pm up for bath and clean teeth
6.30 out of bath and change to pjs
6.40 milk (I know terrible still do it after teeth....)
6.50 story and cuddles
7pm lights out and leave

We also have a 6 month old who does the same evening routine and bedtime. We don't really have toys in the bedroom just teddies and books. All the toys are in the living room and garden.

I realise everyone is different but I don't even start our 2 year olds bedtime routine until 8 or 7:30 on bath nights (twice a week as she has severe eczema). Then she is usually asleep by 9pm.

We have removed the big toys from her room as she wanted to play and not sleep.

Oh and dinner is always around 4/4.30pm and then she'll just have a snack around 5.30 before we go up...cheese/fruit/yoghurt/cracker etc

It sounds like you’re starting too early tbh. We have a 3yo. 7pm - TV, 7.15 stories and milk, 7.30 bath and teeth, in bed and lights out at 8pm.

Phone alarm for playing. For some reason he accepts the alarm telling him it is bedtime better than he accepts Mummy saying it. There’s no way of persuading a phone, I suppose.

DS is at nursery until 6pm, so we are home at 6:30, snack and TV while the bath is running (we have low water pressure, so it takes 15 mins). Bath, teeth, and upstairs by 7:30 (he loves bath time, will spend hours in the bath if you let him).

Bit of messing about, three stories and light out by 8pm.

Fucking ages!

Sounds long!

12 month old here. Bedtime routine is short. Bath not done as part of bedtime.

6.30pm dinner. Then plays with toys or books afterwards
7.45pm upstairs - quick wash/ nappy/ pjs
7.55pm milk feed
8pm in cot.

I sit in room whilst he falls asleep which takes 5-20mins depending

Bedtime varies depending on how tired he is. Sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes later

We start bath for two DCs aged 3 and 6 at 18:15. Both in bed at 19:00. (Yes, that might seem early to many but they're both ready generally. The older reads in bed with a small light for a while.)

Think I might start bath at 6.30 and aim for him to be asleep by 7.30.
Wish me luck!

At 22 months we had tea at 4.45/5pm, tv and milk after tea finished, upstairs at 6pm for bath, general farting around after bath and then stories and lights off about 7pm. He might chat in his cot a bit if he'd had a long lunchtime nap, would crash out at 6.30pm if no nap. Days start at 6ish so he needs to be asleep 12/13 hours later.

The nursery tea is annoyingly early but I think eating weetabix after bath and just before bed is giving mixed messages. If you feel your DC is still hungry you can just start bathtime 30 mins later and do weetabix beforehand then it's clearer that bathtime is wind-down time before bed and not a precursor to another meal. Then strict on which toys can be played after bathtime (put toys in click shut box your DC can't open). Soon you can prob use timers or countdowns to explain when play time will end and sit in the room quietly in the dark so your DC gets bored and eventually let's you escape earlier (or do some sleep training).

Run bath at 630. In bath 6:35/6:40. Out of bath at 6:55. Nappy and pyjamas on in the bathroom. She'll run into her room and start playing. I pick her up, put her in cot with her drink. Zip her into sleeping bag. Say good night. Normally done by 7:05

DS is nearly 3 but our routine has been the same for as long as I can remember: upstairs at 7, run bath, get in bath, out at 7.30, then teeth, 2 books, a bit of running around and into bed. DH or I usually make it downstairs by about 8 for dinner.

She's 2.5, bath at 6, bed and story as soon as she's out and she's asleep by 6.30. She has dinner at 5 and plays for a bit before her bath.