Bedtime went much more smoothly tonight. First off, Trey and Ally were separated. I took Ally and Grayson grocery shopping, and Brian and Trey were already asleep when we got back. So that made it easier for me--I had only one kid to deal with, and they didn't have each other to feed off of.
Then Ally and I had our bedtime routine. Trey and I have had a routine since he was a baby--we read stories, sing songs, say a prayer, then go to bed. When Ally came along, we included her in it. But I've recently realized that she doesn't really like being read to. She would rather look through the pages and tell the story herself. So having this as her bedtime routine doesn't really work for her.
I asked her the other day what she liked about bedtime. Her response was singing songs, and she really liked listening to Jewel the other night. So now we lie down on her bed together and listen to lullabies. She likes that much better than mine and Trey's way.
After we did that tonight, she was in her room for about a half hour and I thought she was asleep, but then she came out to go potty and grab some toys. I know she shouldn't be allowed to have toys at bedtime, but I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place: do I get her riled up and possibly wake Brian and Trey with her screaming when I tell her she can't have toys, or do I let her take them and hope she quickly and quietly wears herself out and falls asleep?
Tonight I chose the latter, and the end result was pretty good: she did fall asleep after she played quietly by herself for a while. But bedtime from start to sleep took 1 1/2 hours which isn't too good. Ideally it should be half an hour. But it was much better than the four or five hours it took to get them to sleep last night. Yay for progress!
We'll hopefully be able to keep them separated again tomorrow night and see if it goes even better.
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