A Bedtime That's A Breeze

Grace has always been a super swell sleeper.

From the time she was 6 weeks old she was asleep by 7 or 7:30.

Slept well.  By herself.  In a dark room.  When she woke up it was quick and simple and she would go right back to sleep.  At age two we moved her to a bigger bed and she never came out of her room-not until we came in to get her -until she was about age 4.  Just a joy when it came to sleep.

As she got older she started to stall.
She started to realize she was missing out on something.
She would come out or call a bunch.
And, for me that made bed time extremely frustrating because I want us all to end the day on a joyful note.
We found ways to stop the stalling but then we would get lazy and she'd go back to old habits.
Then she starting taking a good 1 hour to fall asleep, probably with in the last month or so.
She would still be in her room alone, in the dark, but would sing and chat with her lovies for what seemed like for ever.  This was a problem.  Loren and I have known since she was born just how important sleep is, especially for babies and children and we didn't like that she was missing out on some good-old-sleep.

So I devised a plan.
1. To stop the stalling
2. To get her to fall asleep quicker

We continued with our normal bedtime routine.  Something we've done since she was 6 weeks old.  It's changed slightly over the last 5 years but not by much.


Shower/Bath
PJ's Brush Teeth

1 Story
Snuggle together and say what our favorite part of the day was
Pray

Here is where the new part comes in

She gets 15-30 minutes (depending one what time we finish with bedtime routine....the goal however is 30 minutes) of quiet time in her room.  She has books and her lovies in there.  The only "toy" in there is her Disney Castle.  The only rules are that she has to stay in there and entertain herself quietly.

She adores this special time.
She feels like a big girl being able to stay up late (in reality she's not staying up later, she's actually asleep before she use to fall asleep when she would sing/chat for an hour after bedtime).

During this quiet time I clean up from the day.
It's my favorite part about this new change.
She's still awake but quietly entertaining herself while I get a ton of stuff done.
I tackle all the things I normally put off.  It's pure bliss.
Before I would wait a bit until she was asleep (we have a super teeny house and loud sounds would scare her or keep her from falling asleep) and then by the time she was asleep I was too tired to clean up.  It's like magic.

After her quiet time I say Lights Out.
She comes out, goes potty, I tuck her in, give her kisses and say goodnight and close the door.
The End.

If she comes out she gets no attention (the reason she likes to stall is for more attention so we have chosen to not give it to her so she will stop stalling).  We just walk her back to her room and close the door.  However, since we started this new plan, she has only come out one time in the last week, which means even the idea of not giving her attention has stopped her from coming out.  Score and double score.

I am so thankful this is working out the way it has been.
I only hope it will continue on.

If anyone is dealing with a similar issue, I suggest giving it a try for a couple of days.
It might work like a charm.

And, I am always grateful for new ideas.
Let me know what has worked for you in the past.  

Here's to Happy Nights and Sleeping Babes.