Sponsored by Amazon & Huggies

As we get closer to 2, I can feel the 2-year sleep regression settling in. She climbed out of her crib on Thanksgiving- but thankfully didn’t attempt after that. She’ll randomly want pancakes at 4 a.m. Cuddle sessions at 2 a.m. Bright-eyed at 6 a.m. I hear this one is rough and lasts for months- but somehow it feels like it has already been 3 months. ha!

We had a pediatrician appointment last Monday for something else, but naturally, I’m inquiring all about it. She told us that our bedtime and naps were good and that this is just one of those things that as a parent you have to decide how you’ll handle it. Some parents give snacks and wake up with their little ones. Some try to switch around a schedule. We all make the best decisions for our kids, but that doesn’t make these regressions any easier.

We talked a lot about bedtime routine, so today I thought I’d share our routine now that she is almost 2! Things have changed a bit, since now if she doesn’t want to go to sleep it is usually because she wants to play. I hear it only gets more difficult the older they get to want to wind down, and then you’ve got the whole situation of *keeping* them in bed once they switch to a big-kid bed. When did you do that?! Since she hasn’t climbed out again, I was thinking of waiting. But then so many of you all made great points that you switched during the 2-year sleep regression since they were already having trouble sleeping. What did you do?!

Dinner at 5

We eat dinner pretty early since that’s around the time Maxi is starving! Paul is still at work at this point, so Maxi and I eat dinner together. She’s quite the slow eater, so this will take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. She likes to savor it. 😉 Her favorite dinner as of late, is ham, pineapple, and green beans. I’ll make it all like a sheet pan dinner and it’s so simple. She also is obsessed with BBQ chicken! She prefers anything sweet, I suppose. haha.

Family Play at 6

I’ll clean up her plate and then we go in the playroom for 30 minutes of playtime. On the weekends, Paul is home for this! Right now, Maxi is obsessed with coloring and her play kitchen. She walks around eating pretend food going, “Mmhhm! Mhhhm!! Mhhm!!”- as if she is a judge on Chopped. ha!

Bath at 6:30

She gets her bath at 6:30. We recently added the Amazon Echo Look to her bedroom, and while she doesn’t need any help to snap a photo, I figured it was a good way to incorporate music. We already have the Amazon Alexa and so I’ll use the Echo Look myself once she no longer uses it in her room. We play John Legend’s “Silver Bells” on repeat during bathtime. These are her favorite bath toys and then we also love these bath crayons. They are super easy to clean up and you just wipe off with a washcloth.

After the bath, we put on our lotion, brush her hair, and put on her pajamas. We use the Huggies OverNites. Y’all, I try to convert everyone to these- they are the #1 selling night-time diaper, with Double Leak Guard for 12 hours of protection. If we have a fabulous night and Maxi will sleep 12-13 hours, these prevent her from waking up due to a wet diaper and they prevent me from washing sheets in the morning due to leaks. Sleep regressions are hard enough, the last thing you want is your little one waking from anything other than hunger or attachment to mom or dad. If I can avoid little things like overly wet diapers, I’m going to! I recommended them to a friend going through some sleep issues and she loves them. Toddler name is crossed out since her mom doesn’t have a blog. 🙂 But after she loved them, I dropped off a box for her since I get the boxes on Amazon and she told me she had no issues! Mama win-win! We all try to help one another- especially with sleep issues.

Books and Snack at 7

We do a bedtime snack and get in our glider to rock and read stories. She loves bananas with peanut butter or toast with peanut butter for her snack. Her two favorite books lately are anything Pinkalicious {this board book is her favorite} and then The Giving Tree. We keep a basket of books by our glider and she’ll pick which ones. Typically by the second book in, she is “reading” to us. Sometimes if she isn’t in the mood to go to sleep, we let her have a book in her bed and she’ll pretend read to her stuffed animals until she falls asleep.

Brush Teeth, Prayers, Bed at 7:30

At 7:30 we brush her teeth and then it is lights out! The past month or so, this is where she will fight it because she wants to keep playing or keep reading lots of books. I’ll play some lullabies or calming music on the Echo Look and rock her. She wasn’t letting me rock her around 18 months, so I’m so glad she will let me try again. If Paul is home by this time from work, I’ll let him rock her to sleep so the can have that special time together. We are typically out of her room by 7:50-8 and she’s out!

If you have a little one around Maxi’s age, I’d love to hear your bedtime routine! I am always wanting to learn about different things that work for other kids because once you get your routine down with your little one they change on you! Nothing stumps me quite like the opinions of my toddler. I’m learning all I can do is be patient, be willing to adjust or try new routines, and use the products {like OverNites} that work for us!

Have a great rest of your day!