Oh, toddler bedtime: the bane of most parents’ existence! Somehow bedtime, particularly toddler bedtime, always proves to be one of the most challenging times of the day. It goes without saying that toddlers are strong willed, crazy rambunctious little tornados. Couple that with telling them that they have to stop whatever fun activity they are currently doing because they have to sleep can be interesting to say the least.
On a good day, bedtime in our household starts around 7:30pm and ends at 8:00pm, which means that at 7:15 I start preparing Olivia for bedtime by starting a countdown and telling her she has 15, 10, 5, 1 more minute(s) until we go upstairs.
Once it’s time to head to bed, I allow her to bring a toy upstairs. If your kid has no problem dropping everything that they’re doing to head to bed then good for you (and also, how is that possible?)! But if your kid is anything like mine, he/she will fight you. We have found that it always helps when we say, “okay, it’s time to go upstairs to get ready for bed, pick one toy to bring upstairs with you.” Olivia chooses her toy and then she can bring it upstairs and set it on her shelf so that it’s ready to play with first thing in the morning.
Olivia loves choosing which pajamas she’s going to wear and I love these cozy and super soft ones from Finn + Emma. They have so many cute clothing options for babies and adorable jammies for toddlers. Even Eric commented on how soft they were when he took them out of the package. Then it’s time for the ultimate battle: toddler teeth brushing. We let Olivia brush her own teeth first because she needs to learn how to do it anyway and then we step in to ensure it’s done right.
Bedtime ends with our favorite– a book. Olivia picks out a book from her library (these are some of our favs) and reads it with Eric. These days she’s got most of her books memorized and Eric is just the page turner. 🙂
Even though bedtime used to mean the time that you’d charge your iPhone, lay in bed watching Jimmy Kimmel, or maybe even read the latest novel, there is nothing sweeter than giving your little one a kiss goodnight and closing the bedroom door!
What’s your toddler bedtime routine look like?
XO,
L
Oh gosh I love this, how beautiful! And your baby bump is getting even more rounder beautiful!
Cant wait <3
-Sumeila
We do the exact same thing with putting a toy on Brooklyn’s shelf! Somehow it makes going upstairs easier and she likes knowing the toy is there. Good thing she doesn’t get out of bed to play with it, and maybe Olivia is that same way 🤞🏼