Day: March 9, 2009

A post by Daddy for a change, which means no photos and lots of text.

We’ve been trying to give Leilani a better nighttime routine so that it is easier and more predictable putting her to bed. So about a month ago, we decided to start much earlier than 9pm! Now, the iPhone has 2 alarms. One at 7:30 with crickets chirping to remind Leilani (and the parents) that it’s time to get ready for bed, the other at 8:30 with bells when she should be going to bed.

The crickets and the bells are great reminders, but we’ve been slipping lately. Normally, we shouldn’t let her start anything after the bells, but since we’re sometimes late making dinner, sometimes she gets a short DVD after brushing her teeth and getting her pyjamas on. Then of course we have to read her a book (only a short one if it’s already late). But we keep trying for earlier.

More importantly, we’re training her to be put to bed, not to need to fall asleep with us. For a long time, even after we moved her out of our bed, she needed to fall asleep with one of us in her bed. This usually meant one of us fell asleep with her, and the other had to go pull the other out of her bed.

So we started a bedtime song routine that only takes one parent: after putting down the book (ein aller aller letztes) and turning off the light, we lay down with her and sing her three bedtime songs that she chooses. Fortunately, she’s still a 3-year old and likes to cuddle. After those three, we get up and sit on the end of the bed and sing three more that we choose. Sonja came up with this and it has worked very well. She usually fall asleep during the first 3 songs, and almost always by the last 3 songs. The few times she’s still awake, except for a few nights, she has accepted that it’s time to sleep by herself.

What surprised me has been her choice of songs. She always asks for Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, followed by Puff the Magic Dragon, and finally Mary Had a Little Lamb. And she really likes that last one, that’s what puts her to sleep. I know all the words to Puff, but not the others, so I’ll put them here to remind me. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star actually has some very nice lyrics, and the more Mary I can sing, the better.

The Star, poem by Jane Taylor in 1806, sung to the French tune Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman of 1761 (with variations by but not composed by Mozart, according to Wikipedia)

The song Puff the Magic Dragon was written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow in 1959 (Wikipedia again), except we always sing Hanalei instead of Honah Lee.

And if you can stay awake, here is the poem Mary Had a Little Lamb, by Sarah Josepha Hale from 1830, based on true story (I love Wikipedia). It was set to music by Lowell Mason in teh 1830’s, to a melody by Mozart.

Good night.