Bedtime

When Nathan was 2.5yrs old we took away his "set" bedtime of 7pm. It wasn't a forced thing, but it was pretty much timed down to the minute in a nice easy routine which started at 6.15pm. However, it did take a bit of work to help him go to sleep and needed to be with him anyway. We eventually realised it didn't need to be like that. After easing up and letting it go, and after a week of him going crazy at being able to stay up late, things settled down again once he realised the new way was here to stay. He would start to fall asleep on the couch and we'd just carry him off to bed by 7.30pm anyway, as he got older and no longer fell asleep we reverted back to the old routine without the time - just whenever they started to look tired and based on the day and whether they'd had naps or not. Danielle's never had a bedtime, but the rhythm of our days has meant that they generally wake around 7am and go to bed between 7.30-8.30pm.

However, this week, we decided to let that final parent-led bedtime go and instead of us being suggestive of it being time for bed, he now stays up till his body is ready for bed (Danielle at this stage is still taken off to bed in a relaxed fashion as she is ready for sleep sooner and happy with the way things are). So, the last 3 nights Nathan has listened to his own body's needs and gone to bed, first night 9.30pm (asked to go to bed), 2nd night 9pm (wanted to snuggle up on the couch to go to sleep), and tonight 9.30pm when we asked if he wanted to lie down on his bed or couch as he was clearly flopping, bed it was. The first day of the change to the routine he kept reconfirming all day that that was what was going to happen. The 2nd night he asked once or twice during the day and today didn't even ask - just knew that this was the way it was going to be.