Bedtime Tricks For Toddlers!

Today I thought I’d share a few of the bedtime tools we’ve been using with Piper. Her bedtime still takes a while – if she’s had an active day (or been at school) she usually falls asleep right away. But – on days that we’re just around the house it can take forever before she falls asleep and calls us in for everything under the sun! I know you mamas can relate! Here are a few of the things we’v been using to help with the bedtime routine.

• Flora goes to bed around 6:30 still, so Piper gets an hour up by herself which she thinks is pretty special. She’s been helping me give Flora her bath and put her to bed and I love to involve her when I can. It also sets the bedtime mood in the house.
• We have still been trying to give Piper her bath before dinner – it just makes everything less stressful after we clean up, especially if Austin is working late and I’m with both girls alone. On nights when she’s hyped up I’m quick to get her into the bath to SETTLE down. I also add a drop of lavender oil to help her get in the bedtime mood.
• We let Piper pick out 3 books max. We also let her bring a book or two to bed with her to “read” after we put her to sleep. We alternate where we read but lately I’ve been climbing into bed with her and reading there. (Her bed is from Ikea BTW, lots of questions about it ).
• I spritz her pillow with our calm down spray and then use a wellness roller on her spine with Thieves oil to help boost her immune system and prevent her from getting sick when she starts school. (PS- I bring both of these when we travel too so there’s a sense of consistency with her bed no matter where we are.)
• We always rock + sing to her, still at  3 and I hope it never ends!
• We have this ‘wait to wake’ alarm clock that works most nights.
• She’s wearing underwear to bed so we no longer let her bring water in her room at night to minimize accidents.
• We still use a video monitor but somehow when we transitioned Piper into her toddler bed last November she has done an incredible job at never getting out of bed without calling to us.
• We have this diffuser in Piper’s room which I diffuse oils with before bedtime so her room is all dreamy and ready for her by the time we read books! And we still use a sound machine- this is the updated version of the one we have.