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    Categories: Family

This is What Happens During Our Insane Toddler Bedtime Routine

What is your toddler bedtime routine like? Do you struggle to get your kids to go to bed? No matter how much tough love I try to show them, they will not stay in bed! We’ve tried shifting their bedtime to later, but that doesn’t help, they still won’t go to sleep. Instead, they get louder and more riled up, which only means they get less sleep and they are even grumpier in the morning.

We decided to let our two kids share a room, and I wonder if we made the right decision. I love how close they are and I know they love sharing a room, but would they get more sleep if they didn’t share? My hubby says they would find a way to communicate even if they weren’t in the same room. Given how much they love to holler to us downstairs while they’re in their room, I’m sure he’s right.

Despite my best attempts, bedtime is still not as smooth as I’d like it. Although we’ve found little ways to keep them in their room (no, we don’t lock them in there), there are still a lot of things that annoy me every. single. night. Here are the 18 things about our toddler bedtime routine that annoy me.

17 Things About our Toddler Bedtime Routine That Drives Us Up The Wall

17. Flickering lights make it pretty difficult to sleep.

I don’t know if my little daughter is trying to give her brother some “enhanced interrogation” but given that flickering lights on and off in the middle of night breaks terrorists, a poor toddler doesn’t stand a chance.

17. They have turned to the mini blinds for a source of entertainment.

Mini blinds come with many warnings about the hazards they pose to young children. We were concerned after finding the make-shift ladder our kids used to play with the strings. Their room is now dark most of the time because we’ve removed that little openers stick and stashed the strings. That’s why we can’t have nice things, like sunlight.

16. They need another sip of water

Since time immemorial, kids have used the seemingly innocuous request for a drink of water to stave off bedtime. This is a double trap. You have to give them both water to avoid a sibling rivalry meltdown, but you also set yourself up for a 2 a.m. bed wetting situation. More often that not, because we offer plenty of fluids before, during, and after dinner, we ride out the requests. They’ll survive.

15. They conveniently forgot their stuffed animal or blanket downstairs

The pre-bedtime round up for all the sleeping accouterments has become a chore. The 13 stuff animals each are nearly enough comfort, I guess.

14. The request to use the bathroom #1

I just made them go before they got into bed, but somehow, their bladders refill almost instantly. Both kids. At the same time. Since they are not in diapers anymore, we can’t play as fast and loose as we did a couple years ago. The most annoying part is that they are both capable of getting up, using the bathroom and returning to bed without a peep. Nope. Sometimes they send each other out as representatives to lobby the case for bathroom time, as a preemptive attempt to gain toilet access, but mostly just so they both could get out of bed.

13. Their blanket fell off (when they are getting out of bed without permission), so I need to tuck them in again.

12. Suddenly, a three-day-old paper cut requires stitches at 7:45 p.m. tonight, but they’ll settle for a meager band-aid.

11. If I give in on the band-aid, because toddlers and the adhesion properties of bandages don’t mix, they will need a second band-aid because “it just fell off” (they took it off) and need another one.

10. They ask for another bedtime story because the hour fine children’s television programming, and 6 books read to them, weren’t nearly enough.

9. They can see and hear our frustration around bedtime, like “Entourage” super agent Ari Gold, they offer to hug it out after.

8. They holler through the door for me to tuck them in (again)

7. They holler through the door that they have to pee (again)

5. They lay in bed, whispering to each other so loud that we can hear them downstairs over the TV.

4. We like music and singing in our family. We don’t like the bedtime, standing room only, toddler duets, like Britney and Justin

2. They jump on the beds

1. They rip off their pajamas off, dig through their closet, rummage through their dresser, and make a mess.

Do your kids procrastinate before bedtime like mine do? How do you get your kids to bed?

Stacey Freeman: I am a Style Maven, Mommy, Educator, and Traveler.