Bedtime Routine

Throughout my whole pregnancy with Evan I swore that I was going to have a good bed time routine for him and bed time would be easy.  It never happened.  We went on his cues to tell us he was ready for bed and then, since he was in our bed, we would lay with him until he fell asleep.  Most nights I would just fall asleep with him leaving me no time at night to get things done, spend time with Tony or just catch up on DVR'd shows.
Now that we have 2 more babies in the house, something desperately needed to be done about bed time.  After a little research and some tweaking of our schedule, we have it down pat.  Every night right after dinner around 6:30 we begin.  I give Morgan and Riley a bath in the sink, a massage with lotion, swaddle them up tight and then they get a big bottle.  Their room is dark except for the paper lamp that spins and lullaby renditions of Metallica are playing on the CD player as well as a fan for white noise.  (sounds like a lot is still going on in their room, but it is actually quite peaceful)  After their bottle I lay them in their separate cribs awake but drowsy and they fall asleep with in minutes.  They are usually asleep by 7:30.
While this is happening, Tony is bathing Evan, letting him watch 1 TV show, then he chooses a book that one or both of us will read to him and then it's lights out.  He loves it!  He repeats it over and over as soon as dinner is over. "bath, show, book, bed.  bath, show, book, bed"  I really wish we would have gotten him on this routine earlier because now he is usually asleep by 7:30 or 8 o'clock.
This new routine leaves a lot of free time for us.  Most of the time we end up pooped on the couch watching TV and folding our never ending pile of laundry!  The babies sleep their longest at this time as well, usually not waking up to eat until 12:30 or 1 am. (of course I stay up way too late and might only be in bed for an hour before they wake up to eat...LOL)

When people say "get in a routine, it will be a life saver" I totally understand now!  Yes we may force ourselves to be home at 5:30 every night so that the routine is not upset, but it is worth it for happy kids and happy parents!

Morgan out for a while

Riley working on falling asleep