In terms of the girls bedtime routine I must admit I’ve been slacking lately. After a non stop, tiring day of looking after my two little Duracell Bunnies, I’ve been letting bad bedtime habits creep in. The girls are really beginning to play nicely together and if they are engrossed in their game and not badgering me for snacks, attention or whatever else they demand of me, bath time and bedtime seems to get a little later by the day.
A moment of peace is a rarity in my day to day life, so when the opportunity comes, I grab it by the horns, sneak off to make a cuppa and scoff some form of chocolate treat #badmum. It’s normally always short lived and the girls track me down and then the bedtime routine commences. Flo is becoming a right pickle at bedtime lately, her sole purpose in life is to find a prop to help her reach the door handle, so she can break out of her room.
This normally involves her trashing her room and me going in numerous times to clean up her mess. I’ve now confiscated her wicker drawers as they were way to useful for standing on and a box of books, because Flo would take a book out one by one and then carry the box to the door, turn it upside down, stand on it and get out of her room. She’s also at that testing stage when she wants mummy to stay and lay with her.
I must admit I’ve been so shattered by the end of the day that I just give in and sing whatever Nursery Rhymes she demands. She usually screams “No stop” if I guess it wrong (I’m seriously whipped) and it goes on like this for about ten minutes. She’s also super cuddly and throws her arms around me if I try and leave. I guess part of me is just making the most of it as she’s growing so fast and is most likely my last baby.
After Bella’s bedtime stories we brush her teeth, she has her last wee and then she plays quietly in her room with her “little bits”. She plays and when she’s had enough, she takes herself to bed. Sometimes I’m so wrapped up by the novelty of being able to eat my dinner in peace, that she’s still up playing gone 8pm, which is obviously too late for a three year old.
Both my girls have high energy and Bella’s imagination is constantly running wild, so I think they genuinely need that extra bit of time to wind down before bed. So tonight, I thought I’d try and push bath & bedtime a little earlier, with the hope that they would both end up falling asleep at a decent time. They were in the bath by 5.30pm, Flo was in her room by 6.15pm, I went in once to pick her up off the floor as she was starting to fall asleep and put her back in bed and I had the intention of telling Bella to stop playing by 7.15pm but when I went upstairs to give the 5 minute warning, they were both fast asleep #mumwin.
I’m definitely going to try this tactic each night. My next operation is to ditch the bottle, thankfully Flo definitely seems more amicable towards drinking milk out of a cup. I remember when I took the bottle away from Bella, it was like the end of the world. After two years of broken sleep, I think it’s about time, this mummy got some beauty sleep! Until then, I’m enjoying a large glass of wine in the garden, bliss!