Background...My dd is 2. She is still sleeping in her crib. Our bedtime routine is bath, pj's, read a few books with her, maybe cuddle and rock for a few minutes and then lay her down awake, cover her up and leave. She goes to bed great.

My dh started putting her in the crib after he has read to her and then will leave her little reading light on on her dresser and give her some books to look at, then he will leave. (She was wanting to read more books.) She looks at the books quietly and then will fall asleep on her own. We go in there, turn off the light, take the books out, and cover her up. Do you think this a problem? Are we creating any bad habits that I am not seeing? We have such a good sleep thing going, that I don't want to mess it up.

TIA!

why mess with a good thing :dunno: If it's working for you, I don't see it being a problem? In fact a good routine is a GOOD thing (we don't have one BTW :blush: )

Sounds fine to me. As long as she doesn't start refusing to go to bed unless the light is on.

I don't thing it's a bad thing. Encouraging children to read it always a good thing, in my book :nod: If it works - keep it up! :aok:

Well, tonight I let her read in bed for about 15 minutes. When I went in there, she was ready to be covered and up and go to bed so I turned out the light and left. :thumbsup:

I was worried about her need the light too...

I don't think it's a problem at all. Probably because it's how Aidan goes to bed/has down time. If he's not ready for sleep, we put him in his room and he can read all his books. He has about 15 up there at any time - we don't bother removing them at night. Colin's just starting this too.

I don't see anything wrong with it either. It sounds like everyone's happy with it :)

Dennis

I think it sounds great! I find that reading before I go to bed helps me relax and feel sleepy, so if it works for her too, great! I'm all for what works, and it sound to me that your routine is free of stress and results in her going to sleep on her own. Having the ability to fall asleep on her own is an awesome (and very important skill for your sanity!) skill for her to have! :aok:

If you think that's a problem you'd go nuts at my house at bedtime! :crazy:

It's how I feel asleep up until I had a child of my own and now I don't need the books. :lol: So no, I don't see a problem!

Thanks guys!!! I was mainly worried that she might start needing the light to go to sleep but since we usually go in after a little bit and then she is ready to go to bed so we tuck her in and turn out the light I don't think that it will be an issue. It is working out good.

Sounds like a great plan to me :aok:

Sounds fine to me. As long as she doesn't start refusing to go to bed unless the light is on.

She might develop the need for the light later, anyway. Rebekah did, around the time she was 2.5 years old. It's just a normal phase, just like we now have to make sure her closet is closed every night before bed.

I think kids need some alone time or quiet time before falling asleep sometimes. So I don't see anything wrong with your routine the way it is now.

We do the same thing with Trey, only he's in a bed instead of the crib. We read to him, snuggle for a bit, then lights out. He has a night light he sleeps with, and it makes enough light that he can sit in his room and look at books if he wants to after we leave. A lot of times we'll hear him talking to himself in there :lol:

I'm all for whatever works :awink:
And if they need a light later on, there is always a night-light.

Actually J&J sleep with the night-light on now, but instead of reading they talk to each other until somebody falls asleep :lol: