Does your kid read in bed solo before falling asleep?

[spk926]

DD is only 2.5 but yes she does. She has a whole stack of books in her crib and reads them for 30 minutes to an hour (or more!) before falling asleep. She usually reads for about 30 minutes after waking up in the morning too.

Have you tried putting him down earlier and then he still has time to read but maybe won't fall asleep as late?

[whitepicketfence]

I've started doing this with the older girls. DD1 has just started being able to read some basic books by herself so she really enjoys it. Since the girls share a room, this meant we had to let DD2 as well.

It hasn't been a problem. They both turn off their individual lights when they're done and fall asleep on their own. I just put them to bed earlier to allow time for it.

[londoncalling]

What time was he falling asleep when he was doing the bedtime avoidance routine?

My girls seem to fall asleep at about the same time whether they have books, are playing quietly with stuffed animals, or are just doing the extra drink, extra bathroom, I'm not tired out of bed dance.

Now they either choose to put the book down and fall asleep, or they just fall asleep with a book on their face and we sneak in and take it off. I can't force them to physically sleep, but I can set the restriction that it is quiet time in their room with dimmed lights.

[starlily]

DD1 gets one story read to her, then one book she can flip through on her own afterwards. But she usually falls asleep a few pages into her 2nd book.

We used to leave the hall light on and dimmed, but she told us we could stop that after she "borrowed" DD2's Dreamlite.

Eta: for her reading time we leave her adjoining bathroom light on. It had an automatic timer to shut off after 20 minutes.

[Deleted]

Yes.

She either reads or "rocks" her baby doll or talks to her stuff animals.

More so in the winter. She's too tired now.

I wouldn't say it's a bad habit. I think most of us have an unwind routine too. And really I just don't care. In bed? Not annoying me? Not coming out 100xs? Check.

[CloudBee]

I just had this discussion with DH last night.

As long as DS is in a crib, we're going to continue with only allowing stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows. Even if some nights (rare) it takes him a while to fall asleep.

Once he's transitioned into a twin bed (probably by March when he turns 3) we will allow books, as there's likely going to be a shot bookcase used as his night stand.

For now, though, I'm happy we've really put off allowing toys and books in bed. I know that being a good sleeper isn't always something the parents cultivate. But DS is very easily distracted (obv he's a toddler), so I'm happy we've really set the "law" with bed being for sleep, and not for play at his current age.

Moving to a bed with the ability to get in / out himself - hopefully being able to grab a book or toy on his own accord and bring it back to bed will = more sleep for us on weekends?

[krisim]

Both of my dds read or entertain themselves in their bedrooms after we put them to bed. Usually for up to 1.5 hours. I don't care as long as they are being quiet! We put a limit on the number of times that they can come bother us though (DD2 is testing this right now, but she has only recently begun to stay up after we put her to bed).

[cajunmom]

My girls are older (9 and almost 13) but yes, they read in bed most nights after we've kissed them good night, especially during the summer when they don't have to wake up early.

If your son seems to be tired after staying up till 10 or so reading, maybe put him into bed earlier for reading time would work?

[ilikedonuts]

No because she would "read" for hours.

He may just be staying up with the books though for this long because its new and the novelty will wear off after a while.

[cjeanette]

We leave her closet light on and she will sometimes read forever and sometimes pass out.

Both kids sleep with their closet lights on actually. C doesn't like to read though.

[mlt]

Yes. My kid (4.5) will not fall asleep before 9 or 9:30 no matter what we do. He's a night owl. We no longer fight it as long as he reads quietly in bed. We put him down at 8 or 8:30 and as long as he stays in bed that time is his.

[savan]

DS falls asleep immediately. Always has. DD needs quiet time to unwind. If she is obviously not tired at bedtime I leave her with a giant stack of books on the bed. At some point she will fall asleep on her own.

(Both my kids have always slept with a light on so that doesn't factor into it.)

[thebreakfastclub]

No one really talks about this here, but I might try some children's melatonin at 7:30 or so to see if it encourages him to fall asleep earlier. Whenever I need to reset DS, it seems to work. 10pm is a rough bedtime with a newborn.

[londoncalling]

Jul 28, 2015 13:17:34 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Jul 28, 2015 13:01:53 GMT -5 londoncalling said:

What time was he falling asleep when he was doing the bedtime avoidance routine?

It was about 830/9pm.

I dont know what the hell happened!  =(

Ugh how frustrating.  Maybe you can limit his book time to 20 minutes or so?  See if that gets him calm enough for you to turn out the lights.

[mpc]

DS is a little shy of 2.5 and still in a crib. We let him pick 2 books each night to take into bed with him. He "reads" them, which can sometimes last up to an hour. We put him to bed at 7:30, though, so it's still kind of light out and then naturally gets darker. I don't know if it was good or bad to let him do this, but he loves picking out his two books and there's no going back now, lol.

[CloudBee]

CRIB4LYFE

He has not ONCE tried to climb out, and sleeps from about 8:15pm - 6:30-7am, like a frigging rock.

I am SO SCARED about transitioning to a twin bed. One day. (Maybe college.)

You guys are no help.

[lg28]

DS is 3.25 and we've just started allowing him to take a few books to bed.
We read one or two books and then do lights out, but it's light enough that he can still see.

We check after a half hour and if H's still awake we take them away but normally he's fallen asleep.

We start bedtime around 730 hoping to have him sleeping by 830-845.

[thebreakfastclub]

Jul 28, 2015 13:21:41 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Jul 28, 2015 13:19:04 GMT -5 thebreakfastclub said:

No one really talks about this here, but I might try some children's melatonin at 7:30 or so to see if it encourages him to fall asleep earlier. Whenever I need to reset DS, it seems to work. 10pm is a rough bedtime with a newborn.

I raised this issue with H who asked his doctor friends that he surfs with and I’m not sure WTH they talked about but he’s not on board AT ALL with it for the kid.

I do know that there are questions about long-term use, but we use it for a few days at a time, as needed.  Sorry he's not on board.

[Marmee]

I've always put/allow books in with them in bed, even in a crib. My kid's also don't like the pitch black & I always allow a bedside light (once they are in big beds). Is Noah napping? My DD4 is only 2 but if she naps, then she's up until 10pm. Basically as long as they aren't bugging me, I'm happy. By 8 or 9 yrs old, they are reading themselves to sleep & I slip in when I go to bed & turn off lights for everyone.  i dont think its a bad habit.

[mrsGreeko]

My oldest (9 year old) has had books in bed since before she was 2. Now she reads for at least 30 minutes every night before bed and then turns off her light (sometimes
She falls asleep with it on). She sometimes stays up until 10 after getting tucked in at 830. I can't force her to fall
Asleep. I don't stress about it too much. She's a kid that needs a long time of relaxing stuff to finally get to sleep, always has been even as a very youn infant.

My middle (6 year old) has also had books in bed with her since around 2. She falls asleep with the light on 90% of the time books or no. I just turn it off when I go to bed. She just looks at the books for a little bit before falling asleep.

My youngest (3.5 year old) sometimes takes books to bed with him. He also falls asleep with the light on most nights.

I would let him read and not stress about it.

ETA: just saw he's 3.5. I think 2.5-4 is the worst ages for falling asleep. It gets better, but for my kids it took not napping during the day and a lot of late nights where they got up 50 billion times between 8 and 11 and we took them
Back to bed. As long as they stay in their rooms quietly I don't care if they have some quiet activity like reading going on. It's when they get up and make me work that I have problems!

[arch01]

I haven't read all of the responses, but we allow books at nap but not nighttime. I have put a hard stop to the bedtime shenanigans-if he's goofing off, procrastinating, etc., I take away his beloved stuffed animals. Not everyone will agree with this, but it works. He's usually pretty content in his bed singing, talking, tucking in his stuffed animals, etc...I'm not sure he's realized that he *could* get a book and turn on a light.

[anna7602]

Yes. There are far worse habits in life than reading in bed past "bedtime." I do it myself all the time, in fact, so would feel like a hypocrite telling DD she can't.

[meij]

She used to. We had a lamp plugged into an outlet timer we got off Amazon. You could set it for 15 min, 30min or an hour I think. She knew she could read until the light turned off. It was nice because we didn't have to sneak back in, she didn't sleep with a night on all night and we still controlled what time lights out was.