Right from a young age, my girl slept less than average. While newborn babies are known to sleep for long hours, mine did not. When toddlers were supposed to take three naps, in the 2-3-4 pattern or whatever else worked, my girl had transitioned to two naps. And those naps took about an hour to start. And by the time kids are known to get to one nap, she had dropped all. But bedtime takes a minimum of one hour. And the same bedtime doesn’t work for long. It HAS to change every couple of weeks. 

 

Until around she was 3 years old, rocking ( read LOADs of it !!) was the only thing that worked for naps and bedtime. To the point of causing me tendon injuries. And then, it moved to having a snack and patting while humming/singing as the demand was. It went on for almost a couple of years, but the song/music and the snack had to change every few weeks. There was also a time when I had to resort to letting her watch vidoes before bedtime to calm down her mind. We were told (not advised) to use white noise, read books, warm baths, gentle massages and loads more. But nothing worked. So I resorted to doing anything to get going with bedtime, just so that I could replenish my energy for the next day.

 

Around 6 years of age, we moved to talking, and more talking. So bedtime was about talking about random topics, ranging from wildlife to plastics, from human bodies to the reproduction process, from nuclear energy to wars and sometimes creating new words. Shadow play, pillow fights and running around also helped burn some energy. No amount of enrolling in high-intensity sports, like soccer, helped. Bedtime never became a routine.

 

And now for a few years, we have moved to reading before sleeping. She was anyways an early reader. But the books have to be difficult and challenging, often letting her go on a whirlwind adventure, before which we have to talk for at least half an hour. And then after switching off the lights, she will ask for a snack or something, just to delay sleeping. 

 

On those days, I HAVE to scold and be stern. Resulting in she dozing off in a few seconds. 

 

And then she sleeps like a log!!! (Touch wood !!)

 

But this doesn’t stay for long. Now I have learned to accept that every few weeks we will have to change our bedtime routine. So I keep making a note of what new can be done. It can be as small as discussing a newspaper article or telling her a story from my childhood or talking about an upcoming festival. And on days when I am tired, we just talk about wild animals.

 

This need to have a longer bedtime routine has been one of the major aspects of deciding to pick up homeschooling. For years, we tried to get into a routine of waking up early and going to school, but it just did not work for us. 

 

And the first 2 minutes after she wakes up with a fresh mind, are what I look forward to in the morning!!!