Bedtime with young children can often feel like a circus act! Between the juggling of endless requests, tucking everyone in, and convincing them to stay in their bed–it’s the true test of patience for most parents.
Over the past few years (after much trial and error in our family of 5) we have found our bedtime groove. A combination of VTech® products, along with one-on-one time with each kiddo, has helped our kids settle into bed and actually stay there!
Here are 4 of my top tips to make bedtime a meaningful and stress-free experience for all!
1. Make it fun and give your little one control!
Shift the mindset from bedtime being a time of dread to bedtime being a time of fun. One of our favorite ways to do this is by letting our little ones set the mood in their room using the VTech® V-Hush Pro Sleep Training Soother. Each night, when they are getting ready for bed, they pick the color they want their nightlight to be. There are over 250 color options! Choosing their favorite glow-on-the-ceiling projector options on the Training Soother is another way to make bedtime fun. The moon projection is our favorite! We also let our little ones pick out their own bedtime story. Some weeks, we read the same book over and over again. Other weeks we’re changing from genre to genre each day.
2. Keep the flow!
Having a bedtime “flow” has been essential for us to create a solid routine. For us, the flow goes like this: bath, pjs, brush teeth, story time + lights out for our youngest, followed by story time + lights out for our older kids. Our older kids know that when the clock strikes 6:00 pm the bedtime routine begins. I love that the VTech® V-Hush Pro Sleep Training Soother has a digital clock built into it. For Luca, my four-year-old, we love the sleep trainer features that help us create the flow using different colored lights and sounds to help him recognize whether it is bedtime or time to wake up. We try to stick to the same predictable bedtime flow every night.
3. Use it as a chance to reconnect.
My favorite part of bedtime is the one-on-one time it gives me with each of my kids. We started a little game we call “Nightly Questions”. Each night after we read their bedtime story, I ask them 2 conversation starter questions. We bought a deck of conversation starter question cards and answer 2 of them each bedtime. It might be a fun question like “If you were a superhero what would be your superpower?” or something related to their day like “What is something nice you saw someone do today?” These nightly questions are something we all look forward to. Regardless of how busy the day has been, we reconnect before bedtime.
4. Create something to look forward to!
We often find the most stressful part of bedtime to be the moment we tuck our little ones in and leave their room. This is a notorious time for bellyaches, water requests, and delay tactics. Having something special for our little ones to look forward to after we leave their room has been the key to keeping them in their bedrooms. For Luca, our four-year-old, VTech® Storytime With Sunny™ is what he looks forward to when we leave his room. This entertaining storyteller comes with 4 different discs ranging from jokes and songs to stories. I love hearing Luca swap the discs and giggle at the stories as he gets ready to sleep. The soft glow of Sunny’s face turns into the perfect nightlight when he starts to doze. My older kids look forward to the pre-loaded bedtime stories on VTech® V-Hush Pro Sleep Training Soother. Picking a story to listen to as they drift off to sleep is the ultimate comfort.
Bedtime can be such a sweet time with our children. It’s a chance for us to connect with each other, be fully present, and ensure our little ones drift off to sleep feeling loved and cared for. It has become one of my favorite parts of parenthood!
Author Bio:
Mandy Roberson is a certified childbirth educator, mom of 3 and founder of Momma Society–the community for modern moms. She loves holidays and making memories with her children. In her free time, you will find her crafting and creating fun printables for Magic Playbook–a monthly digital subscription for moms
