Toddle Along Tuesday: Bedtime Routine

Today I'm linking up with Melissa @ Growing Up Geeky and her cohost, Samantha @ On Pink Bears and Pacifiers for the Toddle Along Tuesday blog hop. If you've wandered over here from TAT, welcome! The topic today is "bedtime routines." Here's a little glimpse into our routine each night.

We've never set a specific bedtime for Colin, because he lets us know when he's ready to start the routine. Most nights, he is asleep by 8:30. He has always given off some pretty clear sleepy signals, like rubbing his eyes. When we notice the signs, we strip him down and run a bath. Bath time has been a nightly part of our routine since he was diagnosed with mild eczema and the dermatologist recommended bathing him often. He loves the bath, and he splashes around like crazy, plays with his toys, and reads his Baby Einstein bath book.

Rub a dub dub, who's that handsome boy in the tub?

After his bath, I scoop Colin up, dry him off, and go lay him down, either on his changing table or sometimes on the living room floor. We play peek-a-boo with the towel as I dress him in a night time diaper (we use Pampers Extra Protection dipes to keep up with his crazy amount of night time pee) and pajamas. If his hair looks out of control, I brush it. Boys are pretty dang easy in the style department, I have to say.

Once dressed, we sit on the couch together and he drinks some milk from a sippy cup. Then, he brushes his teeth (all four of them) while I supervise. We use a toddler toothbrush and Orajel Training Toothpaste, which is safe to swallow. Even so, we use a small amount.

Then, we make sure he has Puppy (his favorite stuffed animal / best friend) and a paci, and hubs and I give him kisses, tell him we love him, turn on his white noise machine and lay him down in his crib. We put him down awake and he is usually out within a few minutes. Sometimes he talks himself to sleep, and sometimes he throws his paci out of the crib loses his paci and we hear him saying "uh oh. UH OH." on the monitor. When that happens, he's usually not quite ready to sleep, so we'll sit with him on the couch and snuggle a bit longer until he's ready. When we time it right, he is awesome at falling asleep on his own and sleeps through the night. Please note: This was not always the case. During his first year, Colin rarely slept through the night. This is a fairly recent development and I am so grateful for it.

Sweet dreams, my little love.

So there you have it! What's your routine like? If you have multiple children, how has that affected bedtime?