Dealing with the double child bedtime?
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@Chloe really glad I'm not on my own with this. My baby rejected the breast from 6 months old so I have to get her in the cot and use all those sleep cues as she doesn't get the sleepy hormones from the breast milk like my first did! Thanks for being a person of solidarity though! Xx
Have you got something like a Yoto? My little boy has gone to sleep independently since he was about 5/6 months (just temperament, nothing I did!) but we now have a 3 month old and I have to do her bedtime. He absolutely loves to sit in his bed and listen to his Yoto stories, we bought him all new cards from Amazon and he always falls asleep listening to them 🤣 we also leave his lamp on and turn it off once he’s asleep as he started to get a little scared of the dark xx
I had this when maxi was born my older boy suddenly needed someone in his room (he’d always fallen asleep independently) we got him a tonie box and characters of his choice and I’d say to him when maxis asleep il come and give you a cuddle, you can listen to your box until then! He never managed to stay awake for me to go for a cuddle and we made a really big deal of how much of a big boy he was getting to stay up and listen to his tonie box and that it was a real treat! It only took a few months and then he didn’t need me again xx
It's hard doing bedtime for 2. Fortunately I haven't had to do it too many times. My 3 year old also still needs us to sit with her to fall asleep. I say needs but it's just what she's got used to now, so it's what she wants rather than needs. I've learnt from that and my 1 year old now normally goes down on her own which helps, but also depends how tired she is / when her naps fell that day. But also my 3 year old can do it on her own if she's tired enough. I find giving her advance notice that it's coming - something like "daddy's away tonight, so you need to be really good at bedtime and helping me with your sister", which helps a lot as it's not something new being thrown at her when we go upstairs, when she's already tired, and so reduces the likelihood of tantrums. Also we leave the light on til she falls asleep (even when sitting beside her), tell her you'll keep coming back to check on her, that you're watching her on the monitor (so she doesn't feel abandoned).
I think it's normal at their age to get a bit scared of the dark / shadows, so having a night light will definitely help. But 15mins for 3 year old to fall asleep is great. My 3 year old wants to chat for 30mins - 1 hour, depending how tired she is, after reading about 3 books! Can you slowly move to sitting beside rather than holding hands, etc, so you can stat getting her more independent again? It sounds like a phase given you said she used to do it on her own, so hopefully it won't last too long. Also learn from this with your almost 1 year old!!!
My 3yo is still supported to sleep, he’s never gone to sleep on his own (bar a few exceptions), we’ve always sat with him until he falls asleep. When I do solo bedtime, I often sit in my 3yos bed to give him the company he needs to drift off, whilst also breastfeeding the baby to sleep at the same time, then when my eldest is asleep I’ll transfer the baby to his room/cot.