I’ve been debating whether to share our bedtime routine with you because it’s not exactly parenting at it’s best and I know that lots of you will completely disagree with our bedtimes rules and routine. In the end, I decided to go for it after seeing one of my friends post an update on Facebook tonight about the nightmare night they’ve had trying to get the kids settled in bed.
I want to share what happens in our house on a night because bedtimes are a stress free time for us and have been for a good few years now….
Bedtime
We don’t have set bedtimes here which cuts down on the stress of getting things done by a set time and getting the kids into bed and settled by a certain time for no reason other than that’s the time we’ve set for bed time. My 10 year old is usually in bed with his lights off by 10pm and I usually for my 13 year old to turn her lights off when she’s ready for bed although to be honest, they’re off by 10pm more often than not by her own choice.
Electronics
I know that there was a recent scientific study which concluded that the blue light from electronic devices can have an effect on sleep patterns and although I’m not arguing with this research, I don’t feel that it’s necessary to make the kids turn off their electronics at any point until they’re ready to go to sleep. That’s not to say that they play on electronics all night – they most certainly don’t but they have the option to go on their iPads or watch some TV if they want to.
Food and Drink
Only water and fruit are allowed to be eaten after 8pm but sometimes I make a sneaky hot chocolate for them and we sit at the table and play a quick game together before bed.
Pyjamas
Master Frugal doesn’t own an actual pair of pyjamas! I know, I told you this wasn’t parenting at it’s best. 😉 He wears one of about three football shirts that he classes as pyjamas and a pair of football shorts. Don’t worry though, Miss Frugal has more than enough pyjamas for the both of them.
Family Fun
Last week, Master Frugal and his Dad actually played a game of Fifa on the XBox at 9.30! He’d been waiting up for his Dad to finish work and as they hadn’t seen each other all day, they had a cheeky game of Fifa before bed. We have a variety of quick games to play (Dobble, Uno etc) and we often have a quick game on a night when lots of their friends are in bed.
So what do you think?
I know our bedtime routine wouldn’t work for everyone and definitely not for younger children but it works for us. The kids get enough sleep and always wake up on time as bright and busy tailed as I would expect them to be at 8am.
Don’t miss out on future posts like this – receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow me on BlogLovin or Networked Blogs and I’d love to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram.
