Please share your bedtime routine with 2+ toddlers/preschoolers in a family bed - Our routine is...

[karissal]

I haven't been here in awhile but always come away with such good advice and insight.  Hoping some of you wonderful mamas can help me out with something we're struggling with...

We have a 2yo and 4.5yo in a family bed (queen and king pushed together so comfy and lots of room).  The two kids play off each other sooo much and we're having a heck of time getting them settled down for bed every night.  Bedtime is getting pushed later and later and our tempers are starting to flare up after the upteenth "lay down, please" request every night.  Either I lay down with them or both my husband and I lay down with them each night. We really don't mind if it doesn't play out for an hour and a half every night.  We've gotten into the habit of watching a TV show to get everybody at least sitting down before bed but I realize that is a bad habit and the TV light isn't great so we're going to work on that this week.  Do you think that will help a lot?

We love cosleeping and are perfectly fine w/ parenting them to sleep but need help with:

1) getting to sleep earlier

2) getting two kids to fall asleep in the same space in an somewhat orderly fashion at about the same time

I would love to know what others do in terms of a bedtime routine for two or more toddlers/preschoolers in the same room. 

Thank you!

-KL

[mikanmom]

My kids are now 5 and almost 3 and now i have them in their own beds but i usually sleep w/ them in one bed or the other even though i have my own bed,

but anyway before we moved this past Dec. we were in a family bed a queen matress on the floor and DH had his own single mattress a few feet away cause he was a light sleeper and couldn't handle the wiggling etc,

After dinner, bath, potty, teeth, i read 1 story and then put on a cd of music they liked or played some dowloaded stories, The stories were good because i could have the light off and they'd lay still while listening, I was breastfeeding the 2 yearold at the time to sleep, and I layed in between DS and DD, they'd often fall asleep listening to the stories