how do you put your 12-18 month old to bed?

Hi! I am looking for suggestions of how to put my 11 month olds (soon to be 1 year olds) to bed. We have a bedtime routine and it definately needs tweaking. So, I am looking for ideas. Here is how our evening goes:
6:30pm- snack: bowl of oatmeal and 4 oz of formula out of sippy cups, then a little bit of playtime with DH (he works late and this is the only time he gets to play with the boys),
7:15pm- brush teeth and a few sips of water from sippy cups,
7:30pm- change diapers, rub down with lotion, put on pjs, and exersaucer time until they start getting drowsy (they always get tired in their saucers). Once they are drowsy I take them in their room one at a time and I rock them in the rocking chair while they hold their blankies in the dark until they let me know they are ready for their crib (either by squirming all over or by barely being able to keep their eyes open). Usually by 8:00 they are both sleeping.

We used to do baths before bedtime, but about a month ago we decided to change it because the boys love the water so much that it overstimulates them and it takes them a looooong time to calm down. I would love to do read them a book before bed, but, I find that they get so obsessed with trying to rip the book out of my hand so they can chew on it that it turns into one big gigantic hysterical scream fest.
All of that said, I need help putting them to bed without having to sit and rock them. I would love to just be able to set them in their cribs and let them fall asleep on their own, but they keep each other up. Last night, about a half hour after putting them down, one woke up crying, woke up the other and it took DH and I 3 hours to get them to go back to sleep. We tried leaving them alone but after an hour and a half of them playing in their cribs we decided to finally seperate them. DH took one and laid with him in our bed and I sat and rocked the other for 45 minutes until he was almost sleeping. This happens alot when one wakes up the other (yes, even in the middle of the night), so, I can't just leave them to their own devices just yet.
We've cut out all of their bottles, they now drink all of their fluid from sippy cups and it's always cold, so I can't lay them down with a bottle either. I have another baby on the way that is due Nov. 8th, so, I would love to find a way to get this resolved before then. I would also like to stop using the saucers as a way to get them drowsy also, since they aren't going to be able to use them for very much longer.
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :help:

Thank you in advance!

 

Ouch. Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle with time to get this all worked out if you want to do it before the new baby. :hug99:

I don't know if would help, but I swear by the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Dr. Weisbluth. You'll see lots of moms on this board that have used his methods.

 

At that age we gave them a sippy of milk half an hour before bed. Then we got them into their pjs, dimmed the living room lights and watched an episode of Clifford or Dragon Tales with them. We had one of those little foam sofas and we'd cover them there and they'd drink their milk while watching the tv. That was their down-time to get them to relax. After that it was right into their cribs (after tooth brushing time) for a story. We never rocked them to bed.

 

Mine go to bed really early.
They eat at about 5:45, and then have a sippee about 6:15. Between dinner and last sippee, we play some in the floor and read, sometimes with a movie on, sometimes not. We've started the "10 minutes until Beth and Jackie go to bed" thing already because it worked well with Maggie.
When we are getting ready for bed, I'll take them one at a time to get diaper changed, PJ's on, teeth brushed, and then put her in the crib. Then it's the second twins turn. When they are both in their cribs, we read a story, say our prayers, and then sing a song (we've been singing the same song and saying the same prayer forever now, but it seems to work).
They are both in bed by 6:30, and they sometimes will play in their cribs for a few minute with their FP aquariums, and sometimes will just sack out immediately, depending on how nap time went.

HIH!

Oh - both have a special blanket and toy that signal bed time to them. They know what's coming, either nap or bed time, when they get those.

 

Well at 7 we hand out sippy's , then start baths and let them stay in there until about 7:45 then we come out and get diapers and pajama's on and then they get put in their cribs and they fall asleep on their own. Sometimes there is some chatter for a little while before they nod off, but usually they are asleep in 10-15 minutes.

 

Mine are 19 months, but we do a bath every other night and then they get a sippy of milk to drink while they finish playing. About 20 min. later we take them upstairs, actually we just say let's go to bed and they run over to the gate and we open it and they climb up the stairs, and put them to bed. We do not rock them or anything. We say good night and put them down.

At 11 months we gave a bottle before bed and then put them to bed, but we have always put them to bed awake. I have never rocked them to sleep (when they were really little I did), but not since about 5 months. We did have to do some CIO, I don't know if you want to do that or not, but we did it with all 3 of our kids and they all are great sleepers. Good luck.

 

You didn't mention a nap time routine; but are you able to lay them down awake for naps?

It seems it would benefit everyone if they could be put down awake......you say they rip the book out of your hand when reading.....my suggestion would be this; have them both sit on your/DH's lap (right after PJ's are put on) while the other (you or DH) faces them and reads the book. That way they have a great view of the book, are being held by one, and can't reach the book. ^_^ I would also give them their blankies during this time; to help signal that bedtime is coming and get them all snuggly!

I would also recommend the HSHHC book by Weisbluth.

 

Well, we hold one each while they drink their bedtime milk. DS is usually still awake when he goes in his crib, but my DD almost always starts nodding off while finishing her milk. If I am alone (DH working late) at bedtime, they each go in their high cahirs and drink their milk there.

I know many think it is wrong to hold them when they are falling asleep at bedtime, but for us it is fine. These are our only babies - we will never have any more, and waited MANY difficult years to have them, so I truly enjoy that quiet time with them, even at this age.

 

We give bath after dinner which ends up being about 5:40 pm. After pj's we bring them downstairs to highchairs for a sippy of milk. When they are done we bring them back up, giving big sisters kisses good night along the way. We then tickle, cuddle, put in sleep sacks and say good night (in bed by 6:30). It's usually silent within 10 minutes.

 

We pretty much have the same routine now as we did at 11 months. One thing I would ask is, what time do they wake up in the morning? That usually dictates bedtime for me. Bedtime is generally 12 hrs after they wake in the morning.

Our evening looks like this:
5:30 dinner
6:00 bath
6:15 sippy of milk (downstairs in family room)
6:30 Wind down (we usually put a quiet show/DVD on while they play) brush teeth, books
7:00 bedtime

We put them to bed awake and say goodnight. No rocking or anything. I used to hold and rock Ainsley to sleep, but it turned into a 1-2 hr process and I couldn't do it anymore. I did CIO at 10 months to break it. Bea never liked to be rocked to sleep, so I didn't have this issue with her.

 

We also put the girls down awake. Some nights they get a bath - then its pjs and a bottle (I know not good but it is the only way to get enough milk into them). We hold them while they drink it and then brush teeth and put the in cribs, say good night and shut the door. They sometimes play with each other but eventually fall asleep. We have been doing this since 6 months. We did some CIO as well.

For naps they will sometimes play for as long as an hour before falling asleep. I only go in when it there is crying and someone needs pacifier replacement (they tend to throw them on the floor or steal them so one has them all).

 

Our guys go to bed very early. They eat dinner around 4.30. Then they have a bath at 5.00 and get in their onsies or PJ's (depending how hot it is). Then they play around till about 5.45. Then we put them in their sleep sacks (a big signal that it is bed or nap time). Then we sit with them on our laps and read (they used to rip the books out but we'd just replace it with another, keep trying), they still drink bottles of milk (I know very naughty, we will get rid of them soon) and drink a half or a full bottle. At about 6 we walk them around the living room and say good night to everything out the windows and the dog and the picture in the hall. We turn on the white noise machine in their room, cuddle them for a minute, kiss them, put them in their crib and walk out.

Having said all that we had to CIO at ten months which was very hard but has made things a lot easier. We also consulted a sleep specialist because they were so bad we were up every two hours. We got a white noise machine, a humidifier, a thermometer and blacked out their windows, a lot of stuff but worth it for a full nights sleep.

We do this routine for naps too, minus the bath. They get the same signals. They also go to bed at the same time each night. We had to separate them very early as they kept waking each other up. We've just put them back in the same room and it's not working too well. Good luck, it's so hard.

 

QUOTE(Stellaluna @ Sep 8 2007, 06:46 PM) [snapback]398630[/snapback]
You didn't mention a nap time routine; but are you able to lay them down awake for naps?

It seems it would benefit everyone if they could be put down awake......you say they rip the book out of your hand when reading.....my suggestion would be this; have them both sit on your/DH's lap (right after PJ's are put on) while the other (you or DH) faces them and reads the book. That way they have a great view of the book, are being held by one, and can't reach the book. ^_^ I would also give them their blankies during this time; to help signal that bedtime is coming and get them all snuggly!

I would also recommend the HSHHC book by Weisbluth.


We have the same routine for naps. I was hoping that by "fixing" their bedtime routine that their nap routine would change too. I do always give them their blankies when it's time for sleep, whether it be a nap or bedtime and they always snuggle them right away. Someone else asked what time they wake up in the morning- usually they will get up anywhere from 6:45 to 7:30am, so I try to put them to bed a little earlier when they wake up before 7. Thank you for the suggestions, we will give it a shot!

 

Here is my bedtime routine.

5.15/ 5.30 - dinner
6ish -bath time
6.30ish - Brush teeth and get into pj's
6.45ish - play for 10 mins
7ish - story then lights out

My twos cots are about 2 feet apart from each other so i sit inbetween them and read their story there. x

 

6:15 dinner
7:00pm bath (if it is bath night), brush teeth
7:20pm a little playtime with daddy (I clean up from dinner)
7:30pm'ish bed

We just put them in their beds, awake, with their loveys. Sometimes they talk and play a little, but they do eventually go to sleep on their own. We never did do the rocking to sleep thing, unless someone was very upset and cranky.

 

QUOTE(summerfun @ Sep 8 2007, 04:48 PM) [snapback]398465[/snapback]
At 11 months we gave a bottle before bed and then put them to bed, but we have always put them to bed awake. I have never rocked them to sleep (when they were really little I did), but not since about 5 months.


This exactly. We did CIO at 5 months and started putting them down awake. Since about 12-14 months (I can't remember exactly), they have pretty much stopped fussing at all at bedtime. We put them down at pretty much the same time every night whether they seem tired or not. Sometimes there is an hour of chatting and cheerleading in there , but usually it's more like 15-30 minutes. I do think they'd go to sleep faster if they had their own rooms, but they also seem to really enjoy being together, so I don't think of it as "keeping each other up," but rather like more of a private playtime just for the 2 of them.