Wind down routines

[georgeo]

Just wondering when  (or if) you changed your wind down routine as your son or daughter got older.  If you did, why did you change it and how did you change it? 

Thanks

[Tweakster]

How old is your LO?  We just had to make a change around 19/20 mths because he grew up without us noticing.  Before that we were still rocking him slightly before bed and it was all very infant.  He slept independently but we worked hard to soothe him down to sleep...because he's Spirited.

Now it's all very big boy like no milk before bed (I mean he has access to his cup from dinner but we don't make a fuss about drinking it), we watch 1 TV show (15 mins), brush teeth, wash face and hands, into jammies, night to the sunshine (we have Gro-clock) and into bed.  Some days we abbreviate it and pretty much throw him in there, he's usually asking for 'bed' and pointing.  Now TV is said to be stimulating but it's actually the only thing in the entire world that will zone our kid out.  He can barely hear you calling him when he's watching lol  You could poke him and he can't pull himself away.  Not great but it does the trick rather than trying to wield a kid who is running around with his hair on fire into bed.

And now we are getting the stalling, 'book mommy, sit' or taking 10 years to climb the stairs, or fighting us in the bathroom or running to play with toys instead of jammies...that kind of thing.  Bless - our baby is growing up!

[georgeo]

He's 19 months.  They do seem to grow up overnight sometimes don't they?  We have just come through a strange period of a big jump in A times, followed by sickness and then back to the big jump in A times, followed by the recent turn of back to normal A times.  You're right....the tweaking never stops.

Right now it's bath, diaper/pajamas, sippy cup milk/snack, teeth, sippy cup with water if he wants it, sitting reading some books, a quick night night to things then into the bedroom for a couple of books, a song if he wants it and into bed.  Hmmmm, that sounds like a lot but he is so relaxed in the bath and absolutely loves it.  The reading books in the living room is really so we can watch signs to see if he's tired.  

We're still in the room until he falls asleep, we lie on the floor and don't say anything or put a hand on him unless he's really upset.  Our Gentle Withdrawal plan always seems to be hampered by teeth, a change in activity times or getting sick.  Also, we're so relieved and happy when we're in a good sleep groove that I think we sometimes forget that we should be working on that!