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To the moms whose children’s sleep at 8:00 o clock :
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amother
Scarlet


 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 7:20 am
ra_mom wrote:
Those ages should be in bed by 7pm.
Dinner at 5.
Bath at 6 (it's important to establish a calming bedtime routine so they wind down and their bodies know what to expect).
Shabbos in the summer their bodies still expect to eat dinner at 5pm, so serve them a pre-dinner, then at this age a kiddie seuda before or after candlelighting and bedtime after candlelighting.


This depends when the mother comes homes from work.
I come home 430/445 quickly put in supper. the kids have supper, play a little, bath and then they get their 2nd wind! My kids are never in bed before 740 they need to unwind and play.
2 yr old goes 815ish because she takes a late nap.
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amother
Purple


 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 7:25 am
Op, if you are waking up your kids, it means they are tired and really need more sleep.
Most young kids wake up on their own in the morning.
They generally need 12 hours of sleep.
It sounds like your kids are going to sleep too late and are still tired in the morning.
7:00pm should be bedtime. I’m not sure why you didn’t think of putting your kids to bed earlier if they are tired in the morning.
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honeymoon




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 7:45 am
My kids are 5, 3 and 1 1/2 and are in bed anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00. They wake up super early (sometimes before 6!) but they are well rested. I tried moving their bedtime a little later because I thought it will get them to sleep a bit later, but it just backfired. They awoke at the same time, and were tired from the night before.

Most children have a short window of time when their melatonin level is the highest and the most conducive to sleep. After a while it wanes and then they might have a hard time falling asleep because they're overtired. With my children, 7:15 is the cutoff and after that they become hyper and don't fall asleep before 8. Try figuring out when your kids' levels are best (hint: its usually earlier than you think) and don't go past that.

Also, consistency in sleep is more important that the amount of hours (in adults too..)
Wishing you calm and restful evenings.
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Tzutzie




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 7:50 am
8 pm is late.
My kids wake up around 7 and are in bed by 7.

I thinknit depends on the child also. One of my kids can't unwind. She's ether "on" or "off". She'll twirl and jump and run and bounce off the walls in her room. I tuck her into bed, and we play pretend sleep....
Or that she's a baby and I tightly tuck the quilt in like a swaddle and I tell her babies go to sleep nicely and lemme see you do that like a baby. LOL 30 seconds later she's OUT. I was like that as a kid....

The other needs long winding down - like my husband. Lol.
So after dd 2 is asleep I get into bed with her and we shmooze a little. We each share our best parts of the day, we talk about tomorrow and some random stuff. Then I leave and she has to stay in bed.

Like ectomorph, I got tons of passive aggressive hugs on a previous thread about successfully doing bedtime.... maybe poeple are just jelous.
Whenever anyone irl complains about bedtime and ask for tips I always reassure them that bedtime is actually the easiest part of my day..... so no jelousy needed.

A few tips here.
I am flexible and see what each child needs. Oftentimes their bedtime needs change. They need more time for winding down, less time. A snack before sometimes. But it has to be a routine. Like if I see they get hungry before bedtime I'd offer them a quick snack before we start bedtime routine, every day untill I see they refuse it for a while.
Routine and consistency is key.

My kids sleep in stearate rooms. That helps.

Bath 3x a week winter every night summer.
I let them play in there for a while. (They are 3 and 5 both girls so they "swim" for a while. Makes them tired)

It's clean up, Pj's, toilet, teeth, shema, then a few minutes with mommy. Sleep.

No matter WHAT coming out of bed is never tolerated. Whatever they want, they need to tell me from bed. They call me and I come. If it's just stuff like, my feet itch or Stam random stuff to not have to go to sleep I respond with the same line. I'd say, "so scratch it. This is not importamt enoigh to call me. Do not call me again for that. Now it's time for sleep"
If they do come out (rarely these days bh) I rinse repeat in monotone "nothings happening before you are in bed." Again and again. They hate it and get right into bed.

Both kids have a sippy cup, the kind that's like a regular cup with a lip cover all around and I fill it with water every night. If they are thirsty, they can take a sip. No need to call me. I also have tissues next to their beds if they have a runny nose.

Basically I teach them and give them whatever they need to be self sufficient and not have a reason to come out of bed/call me.

I give supper early. My kid comes home starving from school at 3:45. So we prepare the table and I give supper at 4.
By 6:30 kids are heading to bed. By 7, I'm usually done shmoozing w dd1. If they do bathes then they go in by 6. Takes 5 minutes to get them clean then they play.

Also, because I give supper early they feel like they get time to play between supper and bedtime.

Re melatonin, the doesn't work for all children. My kid was once sleeping over at my sister's house and her kid (who's 24hours younger than mine) and my kid were jumping on the beds.... she gave my kid melatonin (without asking me. I was livid) instead of separating them..... it messed up my kid so badly. She was having sleep trouble for about 2 weeks after that.
Her ped explained that it takes about 2 weeks for sleep habits to adjust so that tiny dose of melatonin one night took her 2 weeks get sabilize.....
But otoh, my other sister has a 8yo son who will stay up till 12-1 without his micro dose of melatonin.
So keep in mind, it's not for everyone.
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ectomorph




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 7:57 am
Tzutzie wrote:
8 pm is late.
My kids wake up around 7 and are in bed by 7.

I thinknit depends on the child also. One of my kids can't unwind. She's ether "on" or "off". She'll twirl and jump and run and bounce off the walls in her room. I tuck her into bed, and we play pretend sleep....
Or that she's a baby and I tightly tuck the quilt in like a swaddle and I tell her babies go to sleep nicely and lemme see you do that like a baby. LOL 30 seconds later she's OUT. I was like that as a kid....

The other needs long winding down - like my husband. Lol.
So after dd 2 is asleep I get into bed with her and we shmooze a little. We each share our best parts of the day, we talk about tomorrow and some random stuff. Then I leave and she has to stay in bed.

Like ectomorph, I got tons of passive aggressive hugs on a previous thread about successfully doing bedtime.... maybe poeple are just jelous.
Whenever anyone irl complains about bedtime and ask for tips I always reassure them that bedtime is actually the easiest part of my day..... so no jelousy needed.

A few tips here.
I am flexible and see what each child needs. Oftentimes their bedtime needs change. They need more time for winding down, less time. A snack before sometimes. But it has to be a routine. Like if I see they get hungry before bedtime I'd offer them a quick snack before we start bedtime routine, every day untill I see they refuse it for a while.
Routine and consistency is key.

My kids sleep in stearate rooms. That helps.

Bath 3x a week winter every night summer.
I let them play in there for a while. (They are 3 and 5 both girls so they "swim" for a while. Makes them tired)

It's clean up, Pj's, toilet, teeth, shema, then a few minutes with mommy. Sleep.

No matter WHAT coming out of bed is never tolerated. Whatever they want, they need to tell me from bed. They call me and I come. If it's just stuff like, my feet itch or Stam random stuff to not have to go to sleep I respond with the same line. I'd say, "so scratch it. This is not importamt enoigh to call me. Do not call me again for that. Now it's time for sleep"
If they do come out (rarely these days bh) I rinse repeat in monotone "nothings happening before you are in bed." Again and again. They hate it and get right into bed.

Both kids have a sippy cup, the kind that's like a regular cup with a lip cover all around and I fill it with water every night. If they are thirsty, they can take a sip. No need to call me. I also have tissues next to their beds if they have a runny nose.

Basically I teach them and give them whatever they need to be self sufficient and not have a reason to come out of bed/call me.

I give supper early. My kid comes home starving from school at 3:45. So we prepare the table and I give supper at 4.
By 6:30 kids are heading to bed. By 7, I'm usually done shmoozing w dd1. If they do bathes then they go in by 6. Takes 5 minutes to get them clean then they play.

Also, because I give supper early they feel like they get time to play between supper and bedtime.

Re melatonin, the doesn't work for all children. My kid was once sleeping over at my sister's house and her kid (who's 24hours younger than mine) and my kid were jumping on the beds.... she gave my kid melatonin (without asking me. I was livid) instead of separating them..... it messed up my kid so badly. She was having sleep trouble for about 2 weeks after that.
Her ped explained that it takes about 2 weeks for sleep habits to adjust so that tiny dose of melatonin one night took her 2 weeks get sabilize.....
But otoh, my other sister has a 8yo son who will stay up till 12-1 without his micro dose of melatonin.
So keep in mind, it's not for everyone.
tzutzie that was a great post and I learned from it to thank you for posting
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Fox




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 8:03 am
It's been a long time since I did bedtime, but I remember what worked for me -- and what didn't.

* First of all, throw out any advice about how much sleep kids "should" get. Those are general guidelines, but your kids may not fall strictly into those parameters. Don't sweat it. The best guide is whether they're relatively tired at bedtime and can be roused easily in the morning.

* Start the bedtime ritual 1-1 1/2 hours before bedtime. When my kids were that age, we had dinner at around 6 p.m. Most nights I gave baths -- not necessarily because the kids were that dirty, but because it relaxed them. I got plenty of bath toys and soap markers -- all the usual stuff -- and let them play in the bath a little. Then it was into pajamas and lounging around while I read for 20-30 minutes. I wasn't organized enough to do story tapes, but that's a good idea. Just make sure they're not too lively.

* By far the smartest thing I ever did was tell the kids they didn't have to go to sleep. I got an inexpensive kitchen timer, and I told them I was setting it for 20 minutes. I would come back in 20 minutes, but they had to pretend to be asleep during that 20 minutes. If they weren't asleep at that time, I would sit with them or quietly read another story, but if I heard so much as a mouse scurrying across the floor, the 20 minutes started over.

* Don't let them get their days and nights mixed. Maybe this is a genetic thing, because I have this problem and my 90-year-old father does, too. But give us a mild episode of insomnia and it takes a week to get back on track. With my kids, it wasn't so much a case of insomnia, it was napping -- anyone who took a good solid nap past the age of 1 would be up all night. So figure out their circadian rhythms and try to work with them, not against them.

When all else fails, just go with the flow and try to remember that it won't last forever. My grandmother used to say, "Don't worry! As soon as they're old enough to do anything useful, they'll be in bed all the time!" Sure enough, you'd be shocked how exhausted teenagers get, especially when there's Pesach cleaning to be done.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 8:20 am
amother wrote:
This depends when the mother comes homes from work.
I come home 430/445 quickly put in supper. the kids have supper, play a little, bath and then they get their 2nd wind! My kids are never in bed before 740 they need to unwind and play.
2 yr old goes 815ish because she takes a late nap.

I come home at the same time as you.
I found that my kids needed supper right away and needed my attention desperately too so I try to have supper waiting when we all walk into the door.
My 6 year old does best when she's in bed by 7 but because we have older ages at home sometimes it's 7:30 or so. 8:00pm means she's going to be super tired the next day but I'm not saying it never happens. But then we need to play catch up.
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mha3484




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 8:22 am
My kids are 2,4 and 8. My 4 year old is my hardest sleeper. The first thing is that he CAN NOT EVER TAKE A NAP or he goes to bed insanely late.

We usually do a routine of PJs, Dinner, 1mg melatonin, a 5 min video, either calm music or this CD called Shluff Ease where this woman teaches the kids to do relaxation exercises. He also likes massage. If all goes as planned we start with PJs around 6:30 and hes in bed by 7:30.

We did screen free for tishrei and I did not really notice any difference in his sleep habits.

Once the four year old is really asleep I put my 2 year old in the room with shema. He takes about 10-15 min to get over being mad that he has to sleep and falls asleep. We have hit the age of FOMO if someone is awake hes convinced hes missing something fun and has to kvetch.

My 8 year old is pretty easy going B'H. Once the littles are asleep he likes to either talk to me or learn with DH.

They are all awake between 7 and 7:30.
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Tzutzie




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 8:30 am
Fox wrote:
It's been a long time since I did bedtime, but I remember what worked for me -- and what didn't.

* First of all, throw out any advice about how much sleep kids "should" get. Those are general guidelines, but your kids may not fall strictly into those parameters. Don't sweat it. The best guide is whether they're relatively tired at bedtime and can be roused easily in the morning.

* Start the bedtime ritual 1-1 1/2 hours before bedtime. When my kids were that age, we had dinner at around 6 p.m. Most nights I gave baths -- not necessarily because the kids were that dirty, but because it relaxed them. I got plenty of bath toys and soap markers -- all the usual stuff -- and let them play in the bath a little. Then it was into pajamas and lounging around while I read for 20-30 minutes. I wasn't organized enough to do story tapes, but that's a good idea. Just make sure they're not too lively.

* By far the smartest thing I ever did was tell the kids they didn't have to go to sleep. I got an inexpensive kitchen timer, and I told them I was setting it for 20 minutes. I would come back in 20 minutes, but they had to pretend to be asleep during that 20 minutes. If they weren't asleep at that time, I would sit with them or quietly read another story, but if I heard so much as a mouse scurrying across the floor, the 20 minutes started over.

* Don't let them get their days and nights mixed. Maybe this is a genetic thing, because I have this problem and my 90-year-old father does, too. But give us a mild episode of insomnia and it takes a week to get back on track. With my kids, it wasn't so much a case of insomnia, it was napping -- anyone who took a good solid nap past the age of 1 would be up all night. So figure out their circadian rhythms and try to work with them, not against them.

When all else fails, just go with the flow and try to remember that it won't last forever. My grandmother used to say, "Don't worry! As soon as they're old enough to do anything useful, they'll be in bed all the time!" Sure enough, you'd be shocked how exhausted teenagers get, especially when there's Pesach cleaning to be done.


I love the 20 minute timer idea! every few weeks dd1 will have a night where she'll have a hard time falling asleep and I always feel bad. I mean, can you imagine trying to sleep for 30+ minutes and not being able to? its very frustrating.
this is a great idea for such nights!

when my kids were babies I always made sure to keep the light on or keep them in a very sunny room at naptime. when it was time for nightly sleep, it was dark.
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amother
Tan


 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 10:05 am
Tzutzie wrote:
8 pm is late.
My kids wake up around 7 and are in bed by 7.

I thinknit depends on the child also. One of my kids can't unwind. She's ether "on" or "off". She'll twirl and jump and run and bounce off the walls in her room. I tuck her into bed, and we play pretend sleep....
Or that she's a baby and I tightly tuck the quilt in like a swaddle and I tell her babies go to sleep nicely and lemme see you do that like a baby. LOL 30 seconds later she's OUT. I was like that as a kid....

The other needs long winding down - like my husband. Lol.
So after dd 2 is asleep I get into bed with her and we shmooze a little. We each share our best parts of the day, we talk about tomorrow and some random stuff. Then I leave and she has to stay in bed.

Like ectomorph, I got tons of passive aggressive hugs on a previous thread about successfully doing bedtime.... maybe poeple are just jelous.
Whenever anyone irl complains about bedtime and ask for tips I always reassure them that bedtime is actually the easiest part of my day..... so no jelousy needed.

A few tips here.
I am flexible and see what each child needs. Oftentimes their bedtime needs change. They need more time for winding down, less time. A snack before sometimes. But it has to be a routine. Like if I see they get hungry before bedtime I'd offer them a quick snack before we start bedtime routine, every day untill I see they refuse it for a while.
Routine and consistency is key.

My kids sleep in stearate rooms. That helps.

Bath 3x a week winter every night summer.
I let them play in there for a while. (They are 3 and 5 both girls so they "swim" for a while. Makes them tired)

It's clean up, Pj's, toilet, teeth, shema, then a few minutes with mommy. Sleep.

No matter WHAT coming out of bed is never tolerated. Whatever they want, they need to tell me from bed. They call me and I come. If it's just stuff like, my feet itch or Stam random stuff to not have to go to sleep I respond with the same line. I'd say, "so scratch it. This is not importamt enoigh to call me. Do not call me again for that. Now it's time for sleep"
If they do come out (rarely these days bh) I rinse repeat in monotone "nothings happening before you are in bed." Again and again. They hate it and get right into bed.

Both kids have a sippy cup, the kind that's like a regular cup with a lip cover all around and I fill it with water every night. If they are thirsty, they can take a sip. No need to call me. I also have tissues next to their beds if they have a runny nose.

Basically I teach them and give them whatever they need to be self sufficient and not have a reason to come out of bed/call me.

I give supper early. My kid comes home starving from school at 3:45. So we prepare the table and I give supper at 4.
By 6:30 kids are heading to bed. By 7, I'm usually done shmoozing w dd1. If they do bathes then they go in by 6. Takes 5 minutes to get them clean then they play.

Also, because I give supper early they feel like they get time to play between supper and bedtime.

Re melatonin, the doesn't work for all children. My kid was once sleeping over at my sister's house and her kid (who's 24hours younger than mine) and my kid were jumping on the beds.... she gave my kid melatonin (without asking me. I was livid) instead of separating them..... it messed up my kid so badly. She was having sleep trouble for about 2 weeks after that.
Her ped explained that it takes about 2 weeks for sleep habits to adjust so that tiny dose of melatonin one night took her 2 weeks get sabilize.....
But otoh, my other sister has a 8yo son who will stay up till 12-1 without his micro dose of melatonin.
So keep in mind, it's not for everyone.
when I wrote 8 ,I meant 8 be sleeping already and not starting bedtime at 8 ....
Like your suggestions !!!
I didn’t know that about melatonin ...I gonna ask the doc ...
Thank you
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gingleale




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 12:00 pm
At those ages my kids were in bed between 6:30 and 7 and slept till they woke on their own at 7 the next morning. I would walk in from work around 5 and as soon as the babysitter left we would sit down for dinner. After dinner there would be a short playtime followed by baths, teeth brushing, and bedtime stories. Weekdays I had to prepare dinner the night before to make this work. Friday night the schedule never changed. In the summer the kids were long asleep by the time shabbos started and DH and I got one night a week to eat a nice dinner together. In the winter they often had dinner before DH got home from shul, maybe they would stay up for kiddush depending on the timing and then we would pause the meal and put them to bed. The key is to establish a schedule and routine that works for you and to make it non-negotiable to the kids.
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Metukah




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 1:10 pm
Before I tell you our routine I have to point out (as fox already mentioned) that no 2 children have the same sleeping habits or needs.

My 7 year old daughter needs 12 full hours of sleep or at least close to it, my 6 year old doesn't. (I can't let my 6 yo go to sleep later than her older sister, so she sometimes lies awake in bed for a while and I feel sorry for her).

You have to know your children and what they need.

I walk in with my girls at around 4:45. I make sure to have food ready for them by latest 5:45. I don't usually prepare supper for the kids when I get home, unless it's an easy meal. I can't expect them to wait for a full meal to be cooked so it's usually food I prepare the day before/ in the morning / from the freezer; taken out in the morning.

We do homework, usually before supper and then we start with showers 6-6:30. Once they are showered, depending on the time I will let them play/read a little and by 7:30 it's lights out, after shma.

My 9 year old has to be in bed by 9.

I'm not very strict about it every night, but it's okay, because my children can deal with the flexibility.

Friday nights they can stay up as long as they last. When they are tired they ask to go to sleep (Interestingly it's usually my 6 year old who gets tired first.). On motzei shabbos we are usually up late as well.

During the week I try to control bed times, particularly on Sunday, as they are back to school, after a late night weekend, on Monday.

Although, I try to get my girls down for the night by 7:30 it can stretch to 8, and if they've had late nights, I might bring it forward to 7.
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oneofakind




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 2:41 pm
Read the book "Sleepless in America" by Mary Sheehy Corsinka. I'm sure the ladies here say it better but she taught me that a major reason for insomnia (adults and children) is being overtired. In addition, lack of sleep contributes to nightmares so the kid is scared to go to sleep the next night because maybe they'll have a nightmare and the cycle begins.
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Tzutzie




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 5:43 pm
honeymoon wrote:
My kids are 5, 3 and 1 1/2 and are in bed anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00. They wake up super early (sometimes before 6!) but they are well rested. I tried moving their bedtime a little later because I thought it will get them to sleep a bit later, but it just backfired. They awoke at the same time, and were tired from the night before.

Most children have a short window of time when their melatonin level is the highest and the most conducive to sleep. After a while it wanes and then they might have a hard time falling asleep because they're overtired. With my children, 7:15 is the cutoff and after that they become hyper and don't fall asleep before 8. Try figuring out when your kids' levels are best (hint: its usually earlier than you think) and don't go past that.

Also, consistency in sleep is more important that the amount of hours (in adults too..)
Wishing you calm and restful evenings.


I must have missed your post. But this all the way.
Kids should wake up on their own.
My kids used to wake up at 6 or sometimes before. I tried moving up their bedtime like you, but it didn't help. They were just cranky all day.
Now they wake up later. I think it also has to do with the season. Summer time they wake up earlier than winter. They need less food. more water. Less veggies and carb more protein and fruit.
At least that's what I see with myself and my kids.

My kids stayed up today because I had to go out to a meeting at 6:30. I got home at 8. The little one had a massive tantrum because she wanted to lick dh's Can't Believe It nose and he said no....
Once you miss the timing they go nuts.
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amother
Mustard


 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 10:07 pm
Basic tips (many said same ideas above):
1) consistent bedtime routine
2) start process 1.5 hours before you want them to really fall asleep
3) give them some time to be relaxing in bed (like looking at books) before "lights off"
4) make sure they get tired throughout the day
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Snickers18




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jan 28 2019, 11:54 pm
amother wrote:
PLEASE tell me your secrets!!
How do you do it?
What time do they wake up?
How do you do on Shabbat ? (Especially summer time) they go to sleep before the seudah?and Sunday’s?
If they don’t wake up early do you wake them up?
How long does bedtime takes?
It is possible to do it whitout fighting /screaming ??
Ages 5, 3 and 2
I’m too tireeeed
Can’t anymoreee


We have a 5 yo and 2 yo and they are in bed at 6:30 and asleep shortly after. We are not super rigid about it and are a lot more flexible on shabbos, YT, and vacations but I’d say it’s 6:30 at least 90% of the time. They wake up after 7. While consistency and discipline play a role in the early days, I think some kids are also just good sleepers. Our kids happen to be (BH!), so I don’t know that I have specific tips to share other than make sure to get dinner out of the way early and give them special individual time as part of the routine. Makes them look forward to being in bed. A little goes a long way!
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amother
Purple


 

Post Tue, Jan 29 2019, 5:00 am
I’ll just add something interesting when I had my first baby.

My baby (who is now s bar mitzvah boy), was an impossible sleeper. He was always irritable and cried most of the day. He didn’t know how to fall asleep on his own and would wake up multiple times throughout the night. It’s like he could never settle down into a good sleep. He would finally conk out at 11-12 at night giving me a few hours relief.

One night, I was pacing the floors with him while he was screaming at 8pm. Finally I realized that he might be tired, very tired... so I got him ready for bed. Surprisingly after only a few minutes of crying he fell asleep. He slept and slept that night. That’s how I discovered that he NEEDS to be in bed by 8pm.

Fast forward a few weeks. It was around 7pm and ds was screaming and I couldn’t calm him down. I looked at the clock and was wondering how I will hold up until 8 when I can put him to sleep. Then I thought.. why do I need to wait until 8? Why can’t I put him in at 7? Maybe he’s screaming because he’s tired? He didn’t know how to tell time... I put him to sleep at 7 and he slept until 4am when he woke up to eat but went right back to sleep until 8am.

And that’s how 7pm bedtime was born in my house. For years all my kids went to sleep at 7. Even on shabbos... in the summer they ate before shabbos began. In the winter they stayed with us until it turned 7pm.

Not only was this good for my kids, it was also good for me. I was able to have time for myself which made me a better mother.

Even now that my children are getting a little older, once I announce, “ it’s almost 7 o’clock” everyone knows that it means the day is over. They are going to bed a little later as most of them are older but they start winding down at 7. 7 o’clock in the evening magically turns the day into night.
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amother
Tan


 

Post Tue, Jan 29 2019, 8:56 pm
amother wrote:
I’ll just add something interesting when I had my first baby.

My baby (who is now s bar mitzvah boy), was an impossible sleeper. He was always irritable and cried most of the day. He didn’t know how to fall asleep on his own and would wake up multiple times throughout the night. It’s like he could never settle down into a good sleep. He would finally conk out at 11-12 at night giving me a few hours relief.

One night, I was pacing the floors with him while he was screaming at 8pm. Finally I realized that he might be tired, very tired... so I got him ready for bed. Surprisingly after only a few minutes of crying he fell asleep. He slept and slept that night. That’s how I discovered that he NEEDS to be in bed by 8pm.

Fast forward a few weeks. It was around 7pm and ds was screaming and I couldn’t calm him down. I looked at the clock and was wondering how I will hold up until 8 when I can put him to sleep. Then I thought.. why do I need to wait until 8? Why can’t I put him in at 7? Maybe he’s screaming because he’s tired? He didn’t know how to tell time... I put him to sleep at 7 and he slept until 4am when he woke up to eat but went right back to sleep until 8am.

And that’s how 7pm bedtime was born in my house. For years all my kids went to sleep at 7. Even on shabbos... in the summer they ate before shabbos began. In the winter they stayed with us until it turned 7pm.

Not only was this good for my kids, it was also good for me. I was able to have time for myself which made me a better mother.

Even now that my children are getting a little older, once I announce, “ it’s almost 7 o’clock” everyone knows that it means the day is over. They are going to bed a little later as most of them are older but they start winding down at 7. 7 o’clock in the evening magically turns the day into night.
wow 7 o clock you be a dream to me!!! What time do they wake up? They wake up bythemselves? Or you wake them up?
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amother
Purple


 

Post Wed, Jan 30 2019, 3:38 am
amother wrote:
wow 7 o clock you be a dream to me!!! What time do they wake up? They wake up bythemselves? Or you wake them up?


They wake up between 7-8 on their own.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 30 2019, 3:52 am
7 oclock would be a stressor for me. I don't like rushing the night
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