a toddler's bedtime

 Something that keeps me sane as a mother of a young child is a regular bedtime routine and the thought that soon after I will be sitting out in my chair, with a mud masque on my face and a cup of half and half with a little coffee (haha) and veg out in front of Call the Midwife.

Oh, I just adore that little creature, and love every minute (almost) with her, but oh, the bliss of an adult evening. 
Oh joy, oh rapture!

Step one, toss her in a nice warm bath around 7 o'clock. I mean gently place her in. Nothing like warm bath to tell her little mind and body that bedtime is coming!

Step two is to bundle her up in a nice clean diaper and a cotton onsie. I love the basic Gerber, cotton, white onsies. They go up to a size 3T and they keep those diapers firmly in place during the night, if you know what I mean. And of course a cute diaper is always appreciated by me... I literally could not pass by these Honest Company diapers with the cactus print. I mean, Cactus?! Yes!!
Our girl has been potty trained since 20 months old, but she still needs a diaper when sleeping.

 

Here are my favorite products to use with her at bedtime. 

I love Waxelene. It is a great non-petroleum Vaseline replacement. It is awesome. Little One had a rash/dry patch on her eyelid this past winter that I could not get rid of. I tried everything. Waxelene is what got rid of it. I use it for diaper cream at night, and also on red noses, dry skin and chapped lips.

Next I put a small bit of the Organix Coconut Milk serum in the ends of her damp hair.

Then it's teeth time! I carefully brush with this Kids Spry toothpaste with xylitol, and then she does a warm salt rinse. I have taught her how to rinse and spit and she actually does a pretty good job now. I like to do a salt water rinse at bedtime because salt water is known to increase the pH balance in your mouth and make the environment unfriendly for unwanted bacteria. It is also very soothing and good for mouth and throat health in general. 

Then it's the best part of the evening... Story time! 

After story time, we put on some relaxing music. Here are a few albums that she is listening to right now.

The air purifier gets turned on high before she goes to sleep. It provides white noise to block out any noise we make while we are still awake in the evening and I find that she sleeps sounder when it's on. It also cleans the air in her room and keeps dander, dust and pollen at bay.

                   
Then last, but certainly not least, I close her black out curtains. These things are lifesavers. They block out almost all the light in the long summer days, and also to make her room dark for her midday nap. We try to keep her room as dark as a tomb. Any nightlight has always kept her awake and disturbed her sleep.

And of course I can't fail to mention that she must have her "baba" when in bed. We have the kid's size stainless steel Klean Kanteen with the sippy lid and love it. It is, quite literally, leak proof. She can shake it, and roll it around in her bed and not a drop is spilled.

All that's left is to get a snuggle and a kiss and say night, night!! 

Here's a sweet little poem that I think would make a darling child's bedtime prayer:

for each new morning 

with it's light

for rest and shelter

of the night.

for health and food

for love and friends

for everything thy goodness sends

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

(You could add a "Thank You God" at the beginning, and an "Amen" at the end.)