Current bedtime routine?
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She's been very much eating dinner when she wants to, so it's flexible. We put pajamas on at 7:00. If it's bath night, that happens anytime between 6:30-7. She plays and eats if she hasn't ate yet. We brush her teeth whenever she's done eating. We put her in bed at 7:30 but sometimes closer to 8 if it's a night where she isn't hungry until later. So lately we have these time points but we're in a very flexible mode currently especially with her eating dinner. Congratulations on the second pregnancy!!! I'm currently 24 weeks. So I understand the being mindful of adjustments. She starts school a couple of weeks around my due date, so that's going to be fun lol 😆 We weaned her off of bottles mostly and she's drinking straw cups (Zak is great) and the munchkin sippy cups mostly right now.
@Michelle that’s a great idea to still do water at bedtime, didn’t even consider that! Luckily he doesn’t mind brushing his teeth, we just don’t have it solid in the routine, and I’m not sure we’re doing a great job, more just going thru the motions!
@Beth when we first started taking the milk away my son would throw his water out of the crib when he realized it wasn’t milk. We have since learned to tell him it’s water when we hand it to him. 😆 funny what works and what doesn’t but he appreciated us telling him it was water instead of a milk less surprise! **We also brush teeth in his room. Usually on his changing table as he is laying down. Easier for us than in our little bathroom. I have since learned to put a tooth brush in both bathrooms and bedroom because if he takes a bath I do it after bath and if he doesn’t we do it in his room. So a toothbrush in every room has been nice for me not to forget or have to run around trying to remember where we used it last lol
we usually go for a walk with the kiddos and then give baths once we're home, get in pajamas, tidy up their bedroom then brush and floss teeth, read a couple books and offer a drink of water before lights off!
We also do bath every other day since he has eczema. Our bedtime routine starts at 730. We do some reading, then change his last diaper for the night and then PJs if he's not in them already. We still serve warm cow milk for him in a honey bear bottle (recommended by our ped nutritionist as a good transition) . Our son had a hard time transitioning milk bottles but will drink water out of any type of cup -___- . Then lastly we brush his teeth for him either on our living room floor or our bed. It works best for us and we learn some tricks from the pediatric dentist on how to brush it properly. By this time it's usually 8pm. We say goodnight, sleep sack and blanket. Turn off the lights and close the room. congratulations on your 2nd!!
Asked heal baby care app and sharing in case it helps: "It sounds like you have a lovely bedtime routine established, which is great for your 21-month-old! To incorporate tooth brushing more effectively, I recommend transitioning to brushing teeth after the bottle, as you mentioned. You could keep the bottle as part of the routine but aim to have it earlier in the evening, perhaps after dinner, to help separate it from bedtime. As for the bottle, since he drinks well from a cup during the day, you might consider gradually replacing the bedtime bottle with a cup of milk. This way, he can still enjoy the comfort of milk without relying on the bottle. Since you're expecting another baby soon, making these adjustments now can help ease the transition for both children. How do you think your child would respond to having a cup instead of a bottle at bedtime?"
We started milk with dinner so that he wasn’t drinking milk in the crib. We transitioned to sippy cups of water for night time. Over all our routine seems similar to yours. We change diaper, get pjs on and brush teeth. We have been singing the ABC’s or counting to him during teeth brushing. He was not a fan at first but has since gotten used to the routine and no longer fights us