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Original poster

Can anyone recommend a child bedtime story CD?

17 replies

bumbleweed · 20/01/2008 15:04

Can anyone recommend a good story CD suitable for a 2.5 year old which has a good few bed-time stories on - something to leave running to help settle dd to sleep?

OP posts:
BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 20/01/2008 15:11

Too young IMO. You need to read a story, then say good night, love you, see you in the morning.

DS is 6 and has only recently been allowed to have Roald Dahl on CD, and only at half term, or in the holidays.

There is no substitute for reading to a child.

DS(6) has the reading age of a 9 year old, his friend is still struggling. His mother does not understand why, but this is the woman who said she could not be bothered to read to her children at bed time. "When they go to bed it is my time"

Blandmum · 20/01/2008 15:15

Too young IMHO.

ds is 7 and I still read to him at night.

VanillaPumpkin · 20/01/2008 15:25

DH or I read to both the dd's (2.5 and 4.10) but they also have a story CD on after this. DD2 falls asleep right away (they are in the same room). We introduced it as a last resort when we moved and dd1 would not stay in bed. God it was bloody awful. The only threat that worked with her was losing a bedtime story, but obv after she had had them we had no 'punishment' left. So a friend suggested this and we could say it was turned off if she got up. It worked a dream (and still does). We have cds from the books that we read her so she knows the stories. There are lots out there. They love The Large Family.

CantSleepWontSleep · 20/01/2008 16:52

Does she have a musical cot mobile? DD had one, and we have simply removed the mobile part so that she has some soothing music to help her settle. If she wakes in the night she will often put it on to help her go back to sleep too.

HappyMummyOfOne · 20/01/2008 18:41

The Percy Park Keeper and Kipper story cds are lovely for the young ones. Bob the Builder is another good one.

McDreamy · 20/01/2008 18:43

DD is nearly 5 and has only just got into audio books, Roald Dahl, The Relunctant Dragon, The Gigglers but she uses them in the car and on flights back to the UK rather than at night.

The BBC audio books are always good.

FrannyandZooey · 20/01/2008 18:45

I interpreted this as being for after bumbleweed has read some goodnight stories herself

FrannyandZooey · 20/01/2008 18:46

Oh sorry I would choose something very gentle and dull

erm

could you make a recording of yourself reading some favourite ones? A lot of thw commercial ones are probably not suitable for a 2 y o at bedtime IMO

0SlightlyMadShrek · 20/01/2008 18:53

DTDs had a story CD from about 3. We were in the habit of reading continuously until they were asleep whether it was 10mins or 90mins .

We brought them CDs so that we read them 1 story/chapter and then the man/lady carries on reading. We stilldo it to this day and it causes us no problems.

We got a lovely CD called "Sweet Dreams" from ELC for our first - so it would have been about 4yrs ago - don't know if they still do it.

I bought some MrMen CDs from Woolies before Christmas, about £2 each but may be a bit lively for a 2yo's bedtime.

Scootergrrrl · 20/01/2008 19:00

We have the Story Tree from Barefoot Books which is brilliant. I sent a copy to Tutter and it sounded like it worked on her wee one too and I think he's a similiar age.
Would you like me to send you a copy to try it out?

PS: We read to them ourselves firat and then put the cd on if need be. When we were on holiday and didn't have the player, DS went to sleep one night listening to Radio 4

BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 20/01/2008 19:09

I am very wary of providing background noise every night.

One MNer on here, (one of the younger ones) had a television in her room. She now finds herself as an adult unable to go to sleep without background noise. She has tried, and finds that her mind races if she does not have background noise.

This is why, I am happy for DS to have Roald Dahl during the holidays as a treat, but would worry about the long term impact.

VanillaPumpkin · 20/01/2008 19:18

I do take your point but the dd's have nothing if we are away visiting relatives or on holiday (probably about once every 2 months). And once the cd has finished they don't get another one and some of the shorter ones mean dd1 is still awake when it finishes. She is in bed at 7pm usually so not asleep too late.

Original poster
bumbleweed · 20/01/2008 21:57

Erm yes I do read to my child at bedtime - several stories, we are avid library users because she craves variety but we also return to the old favourites often because they love repetition and familiarity at that age too I think. She loves being read to, it is something we have always done, so yes thanks I am well aware of the value of being read to. Saying good night and leaving the room doesnt work in our house, it would cause great upset.

She has great difficulty settling her mind and relaxing to sleep, hence I was looking for something for after I have left the room so I dont have to stay there for hours and hours.

Thanks for letting me know your recommendations. I do take on board the point about becoming reliant on background noise to get to sleep and this is something to consider, but I think stories and music are different to TV in this respect?

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 21/01/2008 11:12

you could maybe try a white noise machine also bumbleweed? I know NQC uses one with her boys and finds it really effective

when they go to sleep somewhere else they just take it with them. i think they are a bit pricey but just thought I would mention it

Mistymoo · 21/01/2008 11:16

When my ds was this age he listened to classical music. There were only 5 tunes on the CD and he still recognises them if he hears them, he's now 7.5

Original poster
bumbleweed · 22/01/2008 13:31

thanks F&Z for your suggestion, I just looked at a white-noise machine on the internet, because I thought about introducing something similar for my 6week old ds at an early stage so that we have something to use for later on.

we did have one when dd was a baby which played waves and raindrops etc but it didnt settle her at all - maybe because we mainly played it when she was already upset, rather than getting her used to the sound when she was relaxed and sleepy

we have a relaxation cd called 'sleep' which we have been using but its almost as though she is so familiar with it she zones it out and concentrates on keeping herself alert in spite of it

I just found a recommendation on a different forum for this and I have ordered it.

I will definitely follow up some of the story CD recommendations and see if any are at our local library in case it doesnt work

OP posts:
Tutter · 25/01/2008 13:25

yes scootergrrrl's cd was great (thanks again )

but ds1's very very favouritest (sorry, sg) is still 'giraffes can't dance'. it's lovely, really gently, with lots of music. read by hugh laurie. lasts about 25-30 mins but the last 15 mins or so is just the music bit

can look for link if you like...?

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