Bedtime Routine

With Oliver's pending arrival "any day now," I thought it could be fun to post Sebastian's bedtime routine, as it is right now, with just one 19-month-old boy. Of course we'll do our best to keep things as normal as we can for him after the new arrival. But life with a newborn and a toddler will surely take some adjustment, and we'll all have to make some changes to make it work. So here we go, Sebastian's current bedtime routine:

Sebastian goes to bed around 7-7:30pm. Around 6 or so, we head up to Sebastian's room and play quietly. Usually he'll play with puzzles, read books, or make out with his stuffed animals (see recent blog post...) for a while, usually with Ken since he's been home lately. We sing songs, too (his favorites right now are "The Wheels on the Bus," "We Are the Dinosaurs," "Monster Boogie," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and the "ABC Song," to which he tries to sing along), and sometimes dance around a bit . I usually take that time to fold his laundry and/or put away clean diapers. And of course I read with him, too, but I stay in the glider and don't get on the floor like I used to...who knows if I'd ever be able to get up again!

Around 6:30, we change his diaper and put on his nighttime one (which is hilariously bulky because we use cloth and he pees a TON at night and needs it double-stuffed) and pjs. Then he asks Ken for his toothbrush (he's obsessed with brushing his teeth), and first I brush his teeth a bit and then he wanders around with it on his own for a while, brushing away. When he's done he gives it back to Ken and watches at the door as he goes and rinses it. Then he "lets Daddy back in" and we play/read/do puzzles for a while longer.

Around 7 or 7:15 (or a bit later if he seems a bit wound up and needs some more cool-down time), we'll start giving him warnings about "two more books" or "one more puzzle" and "then it's time for Good Night Moon." Sometimes he'll whine and try to pretend like he's not tired (all the while rubbing his eyes and yawning...), but he always settles by the time we get a few pages into "Good Night Moon."

Ken dims the lights while Sebastian comes and sits on my lap. Then Ken reads the book (more like recites it, at this point...I think we could both "read" it in our sleep at this point!). Sebastian snuggles with his purple froggy friend (with the paci part cut off) while we read. When the book is done, he turns around and hugs me and gives me a kiss. Then it's Daddy's turn, and he gets a hug and a kiss. Then Sebastian points to his crib and Ken puts him down, turns on his music, puts one of his Carebears next to him, and puts on his blanket (which S promptly pulls off and puts by his head...the kid hates being covered with blankets...weird, huh?). Then we both tell him good night and sweet dreams, and leave the room.

Usually he goes to sleep without a peep, but sometimes he'll whine or cry a bit right as we leave, but I think he's just wanting to stay up and play, even though he's tired. He always settles within 5 minutes. I feel like we're really lucky that he's a good sleeper, and sleeps through the night until morning. He wakes up between 5:00 and 6:30am, usually, usually on the earlier side if he's teething or otherwise not feeling well. He very, very rarely wakes up at night, and even when he does, he settles himself down within minutes, usually, without any need for us to go in. He takes one nap a day, now, around noonish, and that lasts between 1-2 hours, usually more like an hour and a half, and sometimes as long as 2 1/2 hours.

I can only hope that Oliver is as good a sleeper. It'll be hard, at first, I'm sure, figuring out sleep routines for both boys, but then Oliver won't be ready for any kind of schedule for a few months yet. In the meantime, we'll try to keep as much of a sense of normalcy for Sebastian as we can, and I really think that having such a solid, well-established bedtime routine will help with that. So there you have it...bedtime at the Harman house, as of March 8, 2010. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. But for tonight, Sebastian is sleeping happily in his room, hopefully dreaming sweet dreams about slides and puddles and matchbox cars, and all those great little boy things. Sleep well, my sweet boy.