What is your bedtime routine

Our bedtime routine with my 15 mo twins has slid downhill since I no longer give them milk at night before going to bed. They aren't crying or fussing, just all over the room, very happy doing so. What I usually do is pjs, teeth and then I put a pillow out, they each sit and I give them their straw cup of water. They used to sit, drink and I'd read a book to them. These days, they sit, get the cup, and then get up (i take the cup and prompt if they stand up as an incentive to get the drink by sitting). They were happy, and frankly cute as they rolled on the floor but it is not cute to do so. If one gets up, I keep reading with teh other and try to ignore. I do not want this to continue- what is your routine? are they calm and sitting with you and if so, how did you do that? I just see my sister doing bedtime with a 3 and 5 year old and the kids are all over, I do not want this to be my future but i don't want to make bedtime a struggle/fight each night either, I want it to be nice, relaxing, cozy- is that possible? what is reasonable to expect?

 

A trick I stole from another TSer was put them in their beds and read aloud to them like you are a librarian.
My twins are 21 months and we:

baths
jammies
a little play time
get clean water cups and go to their room
they get in bed while we read to them
they keep their cups overnight
hugs, kisses, sound machine, lights out and door shut.

 

our bed time routine is:
quiet time 30 min prior to getting ready
bath time/clean up time
reading/drinks before bed (a little bit of milk if they want it)
cuddles/hugs/kisses nightlights/fans and bedtime.

 

We never had a strict routine. They know that getting into PJs, going upstairs and brushing teeth means bed, even if it takes only 10 minutes total. That, and we turn their music on (that rainforest crib toy), lie them down and put their sleep sacks on and they just lie down happily sucking on them.

 

Our routine:

bath/clean-up
pajamas
gather blankeys and pacifiers (I know, bad mom)
head upstairs with cups of milk
DH loads them on my lap in their glider
read 3 stories while they drink their milk
F to his crib while I sing to and cuddle with S
S to his crib while I sing to and cuddle with F
lay them both down, cover them up
noise machine on and star projector on
good-night, lights off

 

We don't have a strict routine either. At times we are in the basement and once 7:30 hits, I tell them "it's time for night night" and they will run towards the gate and go upstairs.

Josh has not been feeling well the past couple of weeks so when I put him in his crib he will cry for a few minutes but goes down shortly after.

Once we went to milk at a year, they never got a bedtime sippy. Their last drink is during dinner, 1 1/2 hours before bed.

At that age, as long as they go to sleep shortly after being put to bed, I would not worry about it.

FWIW: My boys are almost 23 months and do not sit still when I read to them. I know they will one day so I'm not too worried about it.

 

I put Baby Einstein on as it would relax them and calm them down from all the playing and running around. I haven´t done it recently though as it hasnt been working though I do put it on if a baby is waiting for his/her bath.

I do dinner, then bath (they have a bath seperately so the other sits in his/her highchair until I´ve finished with the other. If I have someone else at hand the the baby waiting will play quietly and I will read a book with him/her). Then it´s teeth brushing then bed. They usually fall asleep quite quickly as they are exhausted from being up all afternoon playing but they sometimes chatter for a while. In general, we don´t have too many problems though it can sometimes be a challenge to get them to go to the bathroom and then get them out of the bath! I´ve always done the same routine since they were small.

We do have days when one is too worked up/overtired for a bath so we just skip it and go straight to bed but it doesnt affect them going to sleep at all.

GL!