The 30 step bedtime routine.

Simon always makes fun of me because the bedtime routine I've created is so ridiculously long...it's not that long. I mean it's just 30 steps...aren't all bedtime routines a series of superstitous steps that parents feel afraid to omit because they want their child to sleep through the night? Well here is what we do every night....

 

 

 

1. Tell Natallie it's time for a bath in english, chinese ("chung leung") and sign language.

2. Undress Natallie. She likes to help but usually gets her large head stuck in her shirts.

3. Take her diaper off. Ask her to throw it away.

 4.Ask her to put the garbage back after throwing the diaper away.

5.Fill the tub with water, add bubble bath for extra excitment.

6. Place Natallie in bath.

7. Wash her hair with shampoo. Make fun hair styles.

8. Ask Natallie stand up so you can wash her bum.

9. Hold Natallie in the tub and dump out the soapy water. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater (I finally know where that saying comes from!)

10. Fill with fresh water. Refine her fine motor skills in squeezing water out of her water toys.

11. When she looks adequately pruny, tell her "all done bath" in english & sign language.

12. Ask Natallie to put away each of her water toys back in the bucket. She will want to say bye to each one as she puts it away.

13. Put a towel on your lap. Put Natallie on your lap facing the tub. Dump out the water as you say, "say bye bye to the water". Natallie loves this part. She will wave and say "bye!"

14. Bundle her up in the towel and lather up in lotion.

15. Distract her with a toy so you can get her diaper and pajamas and sleep sack on. Don't even attempt to put on a PJs that don't have zippers, you will never get her to stay still long enough to do up half the buttons

16. Place her on the futon and say "it's time for books" in english & sign language.

17. Read, read, read. She will show you which ones she wants. After each book, ask her, "Do you want more books?" She will sign "more books" and choose another one.

18. After ten million books and you are so sick and tired of Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet and Three little kittens loved to play, they had fun in the sun all day.....tell her "books are going to sleep" in english, chinese and sign language and Natallie will sign "sleep".

19. Cover the bucket of books with a blanket. Say "good night books". Natallie will be sad and signing "more books" but just keep say "books are sleeping" and she is usually OK but she will try to lift up the blanket to sneak a peak at the sleeping books.

20. Say "time to brush your teeth" in english, chinese and sign language. Natallie will sign "brush". Put a teeny tiny bit of toothpaste on the brush and give it to Natallie. She will suck off all the toothpaste and sign for "more".

21. Take the toothbrush and try to actually brush her teeth.

22. Natallie will insist on brushing the teddy's teeth too.

 

23. Ask her to turn her sleepy music on. It's hard to walk to the CD player zipped up in her sleep sack so make sure she doesn't do a face plant on the floor. Natallie will press the right button to turn the CD on.

24. Ask her to turn her lamp on. She can do it by herself.

 

25. Ask her to turn the heat on. She hasn't quite figured out the dial yet but turn it to 20 degrees.

 

26. Ask her to turn the lights out. This one she can do.

 

27. Give her the stuffed giraffe in one arm and her white teddy in the other arm.

28. Wrap her in her green blanket and then the pink blanket.

29. She will hold up her stuffed animals now. She wants you to kiss them goodnight. Kiss the giraffe, kiss the bear and then kiss her.

 

30. Say "good night, time for sleeping" in english, chinese and sign. Then turn out the lamp on your way out. Turn the baby monitor on. Green means you executed the bedtime routine perfectly and you won't hear a peep from her til at least 7:00am in the morning.

 

 

See? Simple. 30 steps but nothing to it right?