What is your toddlers bed time routine... in a big bed? PLEASE!!!!

[PinkPalace]

DD hasnt day slept since december.
If i force her to have a day nap she is wide wake at midnight! it is a nightmare.

DH and i end up fighting everynight over it and i am sick of it

[MamaPan]

Hi PP
Noah has been in a big bed for a few months now... this is our basic bedtime ritual
Dinner around 5.45
Watch some tv/play
Bath around 6.30 or 6.45
Kiss whichever parent isnt doing bed and Jacob good night
Into PJs and read 2 books in bed (lying down with him)
Tuck him in and kiss good night
Light off and tell a story or sit on end of bed til he goes to sleep
If he is playing around we leave the room - go back in after about 1 min and cuddle him and he usually goes to sleep - he knows it is bed time
we dont have any milk at night anymore (we used to have an added step of bottle of milk (then cup of milk) and book on our bed after he was in PJs)

This has evolved - we used to rock him to sleep when he was in cot...
so we started by lying down with him and cuddling til he went to sleep - but found he ws more wakeful and looking for us to sleep with him in the night... so then we moved to lie and rwad books (which we do) and then sitting on end of bed until he was asleep - never leaving room til he was in deep sleep
Now we can leave most of the time when he is falling asleep or has 'decided' he will go to sleep...
I am hoping soon we can read to him, tuck him in and go - though i must admmit it is now a really nice part of the day...

[PinkPalace]

Do you have a night light?
do you leave the door open or close?

I think i will go back to dinner, bath , bed after DS was born - i would do bath first as it was easier to get it sorted but i wonder if they are too wakeafter?

[MamaPan]

i dont have a night light and we turn the light off...
i also make sure the light outside his room is off so that when i go out (ie open the door to leave) the light doesnt wake him up or get hiom away from his drowiness... (ie if the light streams in he tends to check i am still there even if he is just about to go to sleep)
we close his door (he can open it if he is trying to get out, but doesnt)
I have a monitor in there so i can hear everything with the door shut

for us having the bath as part of the winding down routine works well - he doesget hyper in there but we have always done it thatw ay so he knows what is coming next...

[Phteven]

dinner
bath
jim-jams
read books together
snuggle

[PinkPalace]

thanks girls
i think i will switch the dinner then bath.

I am going to go look for a special bed time book today with DD - she can help choose it and we can read it at night.

[MamaPan]

yep i let him choose the books and we have 'special' books thata re in his room just for bedtime. he has some favourites nd we also go to the library and pick one or 2 out every few weeks so he usually has one of the library ones and one of his special ones each night...

[Phteven]

Time for bed (Mem Fox) is a lovely bedtime book.