Bedtime!

It’s that time of year again.  You know, when it gets dark before dinner.  I both love and hate this time of year.  Pre-kids, I loved it because I like the coziness of the dark in winter.  Post-kids, I long for long evenings outside.  Yes, we’re still outside in late November down here in the south.

End of Daylight Savings is the worst week in the year.  Suddenly kids are horribly cranky in the afternoon and then turning around and waking up at the crack of dawn.  UGH!!  This year we were coming off our trip to NC so Starlet and Stunt Boy were waking up at 4 am!!!  Yikes.  That’s early no matter how you slice it.

Anyway, with the time change, bedtimes change…well, in my house they do.  The kids are exhausted earlier, its darker earlier (no more, “but its light out”) therefore everyone is in bed earlier — including me!  I love it. And, I actually get more alone time.  And all you mommies know that naptime is always a rush because you never know how long you’ll have. At night, I know once the kids are down they are down. FREE TIME!

Now, I know what you are going to say, they are getting up early because you put them to bed early. That just isn’t true for us.  I could keep SB awake until midnight and he’d still wake up around 6:30 or 7. In my mind, if he’s still going to wake up at the same time, why not let him get as much sleep as possible (especially since his naps are few and far between).  He’s usually in bed between 7:30 or 8…if we are having a trying day, I’ll put him in there at seven. He’s even started telling me, “Mom, isn’t it my bedtime?” Really?

For being six months, Starlet knows her bedtime and wants to be there on time.  Like clockwork, 5:45 comes around and we are whining for a bottle.  Girlfriend is almost never up past 6:30.  I try really hard to keep her up because I’d love a 7 pm bedtime, but we melt…bad.  Whats funny is she’ll be so fussy and cranky, but once you put her in the bed you don’t hear a peep.  (Totally opposite of her brother who required much rocking).

OH – and since I’m discussing sleep, I’ll tell you how I remedied SB’s getting up at the crack of dawn.  Since SB knows all of his numbers, I decided to take a digital clock and cover the minutes with electrical tape leaving only the hour to be seen.  When I tucked SB in bed one night I told him not to come out until the clock said 6.  The next morning, I woke up and looked at the monitor around 5:50 (yes, unfortunately i just wake up at that time now) and I could see SB watching the clock.  As soon as it hit 6 he came in telling me how the clock said six. LOL.  He’s actually sleeping later and later now.  Even naptime (when we do it) is better because I say, “Stay in your bed until 4,” and he falls asleep watching the clock! SWEET!!!

This morning poor SB walked in my room while I was feeding Starlet and said, “Why did you get me up so early?”  *blink*blink* Me, “Baby, I didn’t wake you up, you stay in bed until you are ready to get out.” SB, “But my clock said six.”  I think its time to move his time to 7.  Awesome!

When do you put your kids to bed?  What time do they get up?  Any other tips on getting them to sleep in (stay in bed)?