I hated bedtime because it meant a lot of screaming and whining from our twin toddlers. It’s not really that part of the day that I look forward too. If you read posts on how to make your toddlers love bedtime, most of them will tell you to establish a kind of routine: start with brushing their teeth, putting on the pajamas, reading a book, kissing good night, and then turning off the lights.
I don’t see anything wrong with these tips but after more than 500 days of dealing with toddlers, I learned that you’ve got to be specific in your suggestions and that sometimes, you have to do certain things to achieve your desired results.
Here are the things we do to make our toddlers love bedtime:
1. Glorify the pajamas
Tell them how wonderful the pajamas are and how amazing they look when they wear them. These days, the twins love their matching black, outer space pajamas. Nicholas jumps and smiles when he wears his Olaf PJs and Antoinette tells me she’s pretty when she’s in her pink Disney sleep wear. We don’t even need to tell them that it’s bedtime. After they’re dressed in their PJs, they just run to their corner and say “Good night.” Of course, there are difficult nights too but the easy nights come more often now. The glorified pajamas give Jeff and I time to watch a movie on Netflix even on a weekday.
2. Bring life to Pooh and friends
Antoinette loves her Pooh Bear, a welcome-to-Montana gift she got from her Uncle Joe. She also has a Tigger, which was originally Nick’s toy but the boy wasn’t interested with it. Danielle, her sister, gave her a Piglet stuffed toy last Christmas. So the Hundred Acre Wood gang is growing and Antoinette is ecstatic about it. During bedtime, I lay her down and then place Tigger and Piglet to her left and Pooh to her right. I then put a blanket over them and say good night to each one. I think she looks forward to bedtime because she’ll be with her friends.
3. Read their favorite story only in bed.
Our twins’ favorite story is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. They have memorized this one already. Every day, at any time of the day, they bring all sorts of book to me to read. But… I keep a copy of Where the Wild Things Are out of their reach. I tell them that I will read the story during bedtime. And I guess they understood that because the moment I say the title, they lay still and with wide eyes, listen to the story. They’re so familiar with it, I even let them “read” some phrases and words with me.
4. Once in a while, let them sleep with you…
As of this writing, Nicholas is sleeping in our room. He had a terrible time tonight and we can’t figure out what’s wrong with him. I let Jeff bring him in our bedroom and after an hour he calmed down. I then asked him if it’s alright for him to go back to his sleeping area but he replied: “No Mom. Please. I stay.” I’m a mother and no matter how tough I seem to be, my heart melts and yields to my children’s requests. So Nicholas is here with JJ, who occasionally cosleeps with me. They evicted their Dad with big smiles in their faces. But I told him (Nicholas) that this won’t happen everyday. Consider the master bedroom sleepover as a bedtime treat to them. They’ll look forward to it.
How about you? Ang suggestions to make toddlers love their bedtime?
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