If your DC have an early bedtime, what is your evening routine? - Page 2

[XanaduMama]

We have a very strict/regular evening routine. Kids eat dinner at 5, which is when they're starving and need to eat. They're allowed to watch some tv until 6:30; baths & teeth-brushing 6:30-7, then they're in bed every night by 7. We read a story, then lay with them until ds is asleep (dd often falls asleep by then too, esp if she hasn't napped, but is ok with us leaving while she's still awake). dh and I eat dinner after they're in bed. It's not ideal, and eventually I'm planning to institute family dinnertime, but honestly for the moment I enjoy eating a peaceful grownup dinner (at a reasonable hour!), being able to eat what we want without kid complaints, and having some quality time with dh to watch tv or hang out after they're in bed. Whichever of us is not doing bedtime cooks dinner and cleans the kitchen.

They're usually up by 7 at the latest, though sometimes dd sleeps a bit later.

[sunnygir1]

I think you could have them in bed by 6:45 if you want to.  Do they have a really long bath?

Our routine is something like this:

Dinner 5 or 6:00

if dinner is earlier, bedtime snack 6:15

in the tub 6:30

out of the tub 6:45

brush teeth, jammie shirts in the bathroom

diaper and jammie pants (one with dad/one with mama)

toddler nurses, both in bed by 7:15

Of course, it often gets later -- usually mostly because I don't get dinner ready early and/or am not motivated to stick to it.  It's easy to let them play if they're happy.

[crowcaw]

We're in bed by 7 and have dinner at 6.  On bath nights the bath is before dinner otherwise it's just pj's on before dinner.  We put music or books on tape on at 5 until dinner time, kind of their signal to wind it down.  Toy clean up is at 5:45.  DH walks in the door at 6 pretty much and we sit down when he gets there (I sah so it's easy to have dinner ready at the same time every day).  All that's left for after dinner is brushing teeth and reading.  DH does the reading mostly since he hasn't had much time to spend with them.  Lights out is at 7.  Dds are up at 6:30 (one actually wakes up earlier, usually 5:30 - 6 but she stays in her room until 6:30).

[Danielle283]

DD used to go to bed at 7 till she started Kindergarten. We did dinner around 5:30, started calming bedtime routine of bath, teeth, PJ's, and a story at around 6:30.

[graceshappymum]

Wow I am inspired, bed by 7 for DD would be so nice! She gets up at about 7:15, school starts at 8:10 and ends at 2:30. We would do dinner early, say half five, but we have to go to the barn everyday for her pony and that happens after school. That puts dinner at 6:30, which means that after bath and teeth and story she is asleep by 8:30. It seems to work for her, and as long as I don't fall asleep with her  then we get some adult time.

[SuburbanHippie]

My kids were going to be at 6:30 or 7, but now it's more like 7-7:30.  We used to do dinner right after school because they were starving and I saw no point in giving them snacks instead so that was around 3:30 pm.  They would play and we would read books etc until 5:30.  Then it was bath time and then they brush their teeth and go to bed.

Now that we moved to our new house (and we're still commuting from their old school), they eat a snack on the way home and go outside to play when we get home. Dinner is between 5-5:30.  We do baths around 6 and then books, teeth brushing, and bed at 7-7:30.  I like having my nights to myself.  I can catch up on my DVRed shows on tv and do homework in peace.  Plus, my kids get 11 hours of sleep (they get up between 6-6:30 every morning no matter when I put them to bed), which helps them not be crabby monsters the next day.  I also enjoy getting my sleep.  I'm out like a light sometime between 9-10pm.

[~Amy~]

My DS is 3 and doesn't nap.  He's in bed by 6:30 every night...no exceptions or we have a huge meltdown on our hands.  DH gets off work at 5.  He's almost always home by 5:30 unless traffic is particularly bad.  I usually try to have supper ready to go the minute DH walks in the door.  Sometimes, I end up feeding DS before DH is home if DH is late or DS is particularly cranky that day.  Usually when I do this, I've made something for supper that I know DS won't eat so he gets a sandwich & carrot sticks or scrambled eggs while I'm finishing prep on whatever DH & I are eating.  Supper's done by 6 pretty much without exception and I clean up while DH does the bedtime routine.  They play for a few minutes unless it's bath night (only once a week), do pjs, teeth, stories, etc & then I come in for prayers and lay with DS while he falls asleep.  He's almost always asleep by 6:45.  He wakes up between 6:30-7 most mornings.

[megannt]

My little one is usually asleep between 7 and 8. I find that the most important thing to getting her to bed on time is eating right when DH comes home, around 5:00 or 5:30. Another thing that helps with this time of year is blackout curtains or a shade. I find that it's really hard to put DD to bed when it's super light out and I imagine it will only get harder and harder the later it stays light.

Our bedtime routine is bath (10 min.) and book, which my husband does. It gives him some time with baby since he's been at work all day and me a break. Then I nurse her to sleep. She wakes up between 7-8am. My dd is 10 months old.

[Heidi74]

My 3.5 year-old goes to bed around 6:30 (can be as early as 6:00 if we notice that he is really tired), and typically falls asleep almost as soon as his head hits the pillow. He gave up his nap a year ago, and we discovered that a super-early bedtime was the only way to make up for the lack of napping. If he is in bed by 6:30, he typically sleeps until 7:00-7:30 or so the next morning, but if he goes to bed later he will also wake up earlier and become overtired. If he doesn't get enough sleep, he also wakes up a lot at night.

We also have a 21-month old, and he is usually asleep by 8:00, so in reality he has a later bedtime than his older brother. The reason for this is that he takes a 2.5-3 hour nap during the afternoon and is simply not ready for bed as early.

The evening routine for the 3-year old goes like this:

5:00-5:15 Dinner (Usually when Daddy walks in the door)

              Bathtime (Daddy handles the bath and brushing teeth)

              Very short family Bible reading and prayers (on couch in living room)

              Daddy reads a bedtime story or two to DS1 in bed

6:00-6:30 Asleep

             Then, DS2 has some individual time with Daddy after DS1 is in bed, and I go for a quick jog before it is time for DS2s  

             bedtime (Which I do, since he still nurses to sleep.)

It's kind of inconvenient to have to have dinner ready so early, but to us the sacrifice has been worth it. DS1 really needs the sleep. 

[pomplemoose]

DD and DS are getting a bit old for this, but I need this routine and they seem to do fine with it. DH goes to school in the am and works nights right now :( so its all on me. 

I get up at 4am, make lunches, and bike to work at 5am.

Kids get up at 7 on school days. and leave by 745 so they have time to ride bikes and be in class on time

they get out at 235 and I bike over to pick them up.

Snack and homework take about an hour, then time for them to play or help me while i make dinner.

Dinner is always between 5 and 6.

Then a bit more time to play. except for bath days, which with DD needs to be at least e/o day

PJ's, teeth brushing, and cleaning up starts by 7

In bed by 8 or 830 at the latest

This gives me about an hour or so before i have to go to bed in order to be functional at work the next morning.

I love weekends because even if i have to work DH is there to do kid stuff and usually does a couple chores.

[jenniferlynne]

I have two, 4 and 7, and the youngest has a 7 p.m. bedtime on school nights.  Since she doesn't nap anymore and she likes to read to herself for a while before she goes to sleep, she really needs to be in bed by 7.   That way she's usually asleep by 7:30.  My kids are the world's slowest eaters, so dinner often takes 45 minutes to an hour which means the key is getting dinner on the table by 5:30.  If we don't have after-school activities, this isn't usually a problem but on the days we have ballet or something, it's difficult. I try to use the slow cooker or have leftovers on those nights.

Here's how our our routine usually goes:  

• 4:45 or 5 p.m, I start dinner, the kids go upstairs for showers (fortunately they can do this on their own now) or if it's not a bath day -- we do every other day unless they're particularly dirty -- they can watch TV for 30 minutes

• 5:30 p.m. -- dinner

• 6:15 or so, go upstairs, put on jammies if they're not already in them, brush teeth, stories with the younger one or, more often, the two together 

• 7:00 p.m., lights out for the little one, I read with the older one till 7:30

The kids usually get up around 7 a.m., the oldest wakes on his own a little before and the youngest needs to be woken up in the mornings.  On weekends she'll often sleep till 8, so I know she does need the early bedtime.  

[LaughingHyena]

Mine are 4 and 6, they are usually up between 6 and 7 each morning. Though like others have mentioned they still get up at this time if we have the odd late night. We aim to be starting bedtime around 7 most nights with them in bed by 7.30.

We get back from school just after 4 and they usually have a small snack (1/2 piece of fruit or something). DH gets in around 5.20 and we aim to have dinner on the table by 5.30. If they are having a bath it will be shortly after dinner, but we don't do them every day otherwise they play for a while.

7 is time to head up for PJs teeth brushing etc then they each get a story. DD now likes to read for a while before going to sleep.

DS still has a quick nap some days when he's in the bike trailer on the way to school but rarely more than 1/2 hour or so and I suspect more down to boredom than tiredness.

[lovingmommyhood]

I have a 3 year old, a soon to be 5 year old and a 6 year old...The two youngest are in bed AT 7 every night and the oldest is in bed at 8. We do dinner at 5:30 then play time for a bit then bath time for the littles, teeth brushed, stories read...lights out! Oldest DS showers after the littles are in bed. We do the different bed times because my two DS's share a room and won't go to sleep if they're in there together. DS2 needs to be asleep first! They all get up between 6:30 & 7:30.