| AG2007: My youngest is six and the older ones are teenagers. I’ve really enjoyed having a late baby. It seems that she is all joy and very little worry – it is as if I worried too much about the first that there is none left for this one!
Fennho: I fed all my children to sleep (when I was home) until they were about two years old. But even if your baby is weaned earlier than this you still need to be there to help them go to sleep. All my children have had a nighttime routine, of sorts, which usually consisted of a bath and books read to them in bed.
I think it is unrealistic to expect children to go immediately to bed when you say” OK, it’s bedtime now”. (In my experience they never do anything immediately even if it a trip to McDonalds!) So some sort of help to wind down from the day to get into the mood for sleep is usually required.
I try to spend time with each child for a while before they go to sleep. Even my eldest daughter who is now a grown up still likes me to lie on her bed and chat for a while before we turn in. It is a time to talk to each other without anyone interrupting. We don’t to this every night, maybe only once a week but it is a habit that has grown out of our original bedtime routine together.
What helped me deal with the amount of effort needed with parenting was when I realized that I wasn’t sacrificing myself by spending time with my children but actually building a relationship with them. In the end all parenting boils down to communication. So helping your baby to get to sleep in a way you are both comfortable with is building your relationship for the future, and as such, can not be a bad thing.  |