Toddler bedtime: a 15-minute wind-down, then the routine
Bedtime goes better when your toddler knows exactly what comes next. This is fifteen minutes of quiet play they choose, then the same five steps in the same order every night, ending with the same words at the door.
- Time
- 40 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 1 to 3
- Where
- Their room and the bathroom
What you need
- A kitchen timer or a phone timer with a soft bell
- A small basket of quiet toys: board books, soft animals, large blocks
- Toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste
- One or two picture books
Before you start
- Lower the crib mattress once they can stand, so climbing out is harder. Keep the crib away from windows and an arm's reach from dressers.
- Bath means you stay. Never leave a toddler in or near the tub, even for a second. Bring the towel and pajamas in first.
- A rice-grain smear of fluoride toothpaste under 3, a pea-sized amount from 3. You do the brushing.
- Screens off before the wind-down starts, not during it.
Steps
- Screens off, lights low, bell set. Screens off, lights low. "When the bell rings, it's bath." Set 15 minutes.
- They pick the quiet play. They choose quiet play from the basket. You sit with them. No running games.
- Bell rings, routine starts. At the bell, say "Bell says bath." Toys in the basket, then bath or pajamas.
- Teeth, then nothing but water. You brush their teeth. After brushing, nothing but water.
- One book, one song. One book (same number every night), then the same short song.
- Same goodnight line, then go. Say the same goodnight line every night, then lights off and leave.
If it stalls
- If they fight the bell, give them the job of turning off the timer. The bell is the boss, not you.
- If they ask for "one more book," answer with the line: "One book is our number. Tomorrow you can pick first."
Nights in a row, same routine
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date