we have a little routine, so she knows whats coming. most nights i rock her to sleep in her room with lullaby's playing. some nights she is so fidgity & wiggly it is so frustrating & fills me with negative feelings & i just want to put her down & walk away & leave her crying.

she's 2.....i want this to be easier! & she still wakes at least 2 or 3 (major improvment from 6-7) times most nights. no longer nursing, so that isnt an option!

how do you get your down for the night?

Bella is almost 2 (April 4th) and I still lay down with her to get her to sleep.
It takes anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour (if she took a late/long nap).

She still wakes up several times a night, but I sleep with her and she goes right back to sleep when she knows I'm there.

DH wants me to stop sleeping with her, but honestly, I like it and I'd rather sleep with her than with him! :o Long story there...........

So I guess I don't have any advice just :hug: :hug: .

Well I know I am a bad bad mama - sut most of the time 2yo DD curls up in the big family bed - king with a twin butted against it - with her sister and sometimes brother and they watch toons or something - but I will give them this - they do pretty well going to sleep on their own - and some nights I just let them lay there and talk to eachother until they go to sleep.

hmmm...honestly i never even thought of letting them crash infront of the tube to go to sleep......i may just consider that as an option in my pocket!

my kids both watch a short tv show together while they rock in the recliner with daddy. one of two things then happens.

either i take savannah up to her room (4 yrs old) and read a book and say prayers and joe rocks jackson to sleep (2 yrs old).

or

they both go get in savannah's bed, read a book and say prayers and then jackson says night night to savannah and i go lay him in his bed.

well, part of our routine is watching "funny videos" & chilling out, but when it's time to go up there is usually a struggle from one or both. cole is now sleeping in the queen bed in jc's room. i'd like to get them both sleeping in it & ditch the crib.

We do a "count down" so ten minutes before bed we "announce" "10 minutes till bed time".....then 5,2, and 1 minute.

We cant do the "bath,book,bed" thing 'cause she knows what it leads up to and flips out when we start the bedtime rituals!

subbing cause we're having struggles too...well, at nap time, mostly. but night sometimes too.

julie, i didn't realize jd was going to sleep on his own when you lay him down in his bed...heavenly!

We do a "count down" so ten minutes before bed we "announce" "10 minutes till bed time".....then 5,2, and 1 minute.




uh-huh...we do the countdown thing too ......i'm even teaching cole to tell time (on the digital clock) & know when it says "eight zero zero" it's time to go up stairs.

Subbing here also..Sophie isn't completely weaned yet but we are down to bedtime and naptime and that's it. We just made a big deal of buying her a bed of her own and her own bedding..and setting it up, etc. Tonight I asked her if she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed and she emphatically said NO..sooooo..I'll try to nurse her down in our bed and move her if I can.

I want to get her out before I work on how is she goign to sleep w/o nursing..but listening for good tips..been a very long time since I had to do this..we've struggled with Eli for other reasons and now at age 4y 4m he will go into his bed with daddy and lay down..and then Tom just leaves him still awake and he will go to sleep...it was hard to get that to work though! Bathtime before bed with some epsom salts or lavendar bath stuff (california baby) helps.

I still lay down to sleep with my 22 mo. old and my 5 year old! 22 mo sleeps in a side-carred crib, so I just nurse him to sleep and then leave--been doing this since he was born, so he knows the routine. Usually takes 10-20 min.

5 yo has also had me lay down with him since he was born. He slept with me until he was 4 and then decided he wanted to sleep in his own room. It sounds like a pain that I still lay down with him, but it seriously only takes about 5 minutes. I think he just really likes sleep-LOL!

neither of my kids likes nor thinks they need sleep.........which is part of the problem!

how can i make bedtime more appealing to them?

neither of my kids likes nor thinks they need sleep.........which is part of the problem!

how can i make bedtime more appealing to them?

That's my situation as well. Stephanie just got a new twin bed and she will be sharing Ava's room...except that she won't sleep in the bed without me!:lol:
My dh wants her in her own room at this point.

My almost 2 year old? When he is sleepy he finds a dark place lays down and goes to sleep.,.. it is the weirdest thing EVER

Last night he climed in my arms and I rubbed his back in under 2 min he was asleep... before it has been my moms hallway with some dirty laundry as a pillow. At home he will sometimes just go upstairs climb in bed... when he is missing I can usually find him there

now that I am done bragging :)

For my other kid.... thats more of a challange. we have had to make great efforts to have him with a routein... dinner, bath, get dressed get in bed, read a book, announce lights will be turned off and give opportunity to need a run to the bathroom or a drink of water, turn off lights and listen to night CDs. Our routein did not work till we added the CD

I will highly recomend our night CDs we listen to Good Nights
Greathall Productions Presents"Good Night" (http://www.greathall.com/products/1124-001.html)
or Sweet Dreams
Greathall Productions Presents"Sweet Dreams" (http://www.greathall.com/products/1124-020.html)
by Jim Weiss and they made a huge impact on how Miguel falls asleep. They are not music nor are they stories they are Dream Journeys... taking the listener on a journey into bed and off to dream land. I loaded both CDs on my ipod and use a player putting them on random so i dont need to hear the same story over and over

These CDs changed our lives!!!!

julie

those cd's sound interesting....i'll have to go look for them & try it!

yea i just got a cd in for my online store that is about bedtime guided imagery- it is done by the same group that i buy my pregnancy and vbac and mothering cds from- i have not listened to it yet- but i immediately bought it when i saw it thinking jami may use it with harrison- but i just put them on my store site to sell . here is the description of the cd Children's Nighty-Night and Nap CD is a fun and interactive relaxation exercise for children 2-10 years old. It helps their little bodies relax and prepare for sleep. This CD also includes a track especially developed for nap time.

* Your child will learn to:
* Relax and settle down before bed
* Fall asleep more quickly and easily
* Sleep more soundly
* Have a positive and grateful attitude about the day
* Unwind for nap time

CD Tracks Include:

* 1) Children's Night Time Relaxation Exercises: 20:40
* 2) Sleepy Music 20:30
* 3)Children's Nap Time Relaxation 19:46

i know that if guided imagery works for labor and birth- which i believe it really does- then this would work for some kids as well.

i used to put my kids down for naps listening to discovery toys sounds like fun tape- there is one side that is more mellow- i think they still sell it- it was awesome for settling them down. they would wake up singing the songs they had fallen to sleep listening to.

My 1 tip for bedtime is to make sure the routine is low key and relaxing. A story with the lights turned low, bathtime with lavendar and wash quickly and jsut let them soak. I have found that ANY excitement at bedtime (even tv) gets them too wired to calm down.

I may have to check out this CD Theresa mentioned though.

Take a listen

seriously these are great CDs

Index of /jimweiss (http://vilafamily.com/jimweiss)

i used to put my kids down for naps listening to discovery toys sounds like fun tape- there is one side that is more mellow- i think they still sell it- it was awesome for settling them down. they would wake up singing the songs they had fallen to sleep listening to.

this is what jackson listens to at bedtime. savannah has an instrumental cd of lullabies.

Take a listen

seriously these are great CDs

Index of /jimweiss (http://vilafamily.com/jimweiss)


when i click on that, i get 2 options...parent directory & mountain cabin. do i choose one of those?

i like the sound of those that you have in your store teresa...guided imagry. i remember when cole was a tiny baby saying to him "rest your eyes, rest your lips, rest your arms, rest your legs......" in a real peaceful tone trying to help him settle down.

teresa....i looked around the love shack...where are the cd's (not dipes;))?

right now she listens to instrumental lullabies too.....sweet little cd from st. marys;)

select mountain cabin

julie

tonya go to the store- click on miscellaneous and then the subcategory cds for children. julie i would love to hear the sound byte for the cds you suggested. i think for some children songs that are mellow are enough to help them fall asleep. for others they need more of a story or sounds like fun music that is melodic and not active but stimulates their mind a bit more. for others i think guided exercises to help them let go and relax are needed like the cds i now carry. just as we need different things- i stay up late reading emails- and watching tv to help me relax... my husband lays down and is out in a few minutes- others need a sound machine... children are all different- as we know if we have had more than one for sure!

click on the link above. I uploaded 1 of the stories and will take it down tomorrow so I dont violate anyones copywrites

This really works for Miguel. He is usually out before the midway point of the story. It took listening for about a week and now we get a pavlov dog type response... so we cant play it when he is awake! He doesnt however fall asleep with the same guy telling regular stories... say one about Giants. The narrator and his wife are really sweet people too. They giften my Finn with all of their Finn MacKool CDs as a welcome to the world gift when I met them soon after Finn was born

julie whatever it was on your link caused my computer to lock up and never did it download any music or story- sorry... not sure what happened but did not work.

it is an mp3... sorry it didnt work. perhaps try again? Server is clean.

julie

teresa...i'm having a problem at checkout.

when i enter my address & everything, it goes to a page that says "this page cannot be displayed"

i want one! i mean, i NEED one!

pm me at teresa@alaboroflove.org and i will get you the details- you can just send me a paypal or check for the amount- thanks- sorry that my check out is screwing up!

i took it out of inventory- i had no problem with checking out- so not sure what your issue was- but not getting it on my end. paypal me the total of $19.30- that includes tax and shipping- just pm your address and i will send it out tomorrow- my paypal is teresa@alaboroflove.org. thanks!