Bed time

I still lay with my toddler, and now she's 3 me or her dad read a book together in bed then we have a little cuddle to sleep, she's usually asleep within 10 minutes and I don't plan on changing this any time soon, she feels safe and its our routine. She's usually in bed asleep busy 7.30

My boy is 18 months and we put him down awake, say goodnight and leave the room. Have done this for a long time, since he didn’t need holding to sleep. We did the same with our eldest (now nearly 4), but now we read her a story when she’s in bed and she usually falls asleep while we’re still reading.

My 4.5 year old still wants me to cuddle him to sleep most nights. I don't get much me time in the evening, but he won't always want me to do it so I try to enjoy it.

When they’re ready. We started after we switched him to a toddler bed at 2.5, just sitting beside him to read books etc then saying that mama/papa is going to go to bed now too. At first he was super resistant so we would stay until he was asleep, but he’s gotten used to the idea and usually after 5-10 minutes he’ll say goodnight and we leave while he’s still awake

When you are ready to have that boundary :) some start as babies, some delay it until much later. Every family is different. What do YOU want :)

Define ‘on their own’? We’ve had our current routine since 11 months when he started sleeping through the night. Dinner then playtime then bath. Pjs & sleeping bag then cup of milk then brush teeth. Say night night, cuddle/kiss, and put him down in the cot

This will be largely dependent on both your child’s temperament and what works for your family.

I think it depends on the child. From a pretty young age (I’d say before 1 even) we’ve done bath, stories, songs/cuddles, then put little one to bed awake and said goodnight. He’s very good at getting himself off to sleep - sometimes with a bit of a chat to himself/his stuffed bunny first. I would never have seen him in distress, and there’s definitely been periods of time (usually around big changes ie starting nursery at 1, moving into a toddler bed at 27 months, and introducing a sibling at 30 months) where we’ve had to spend a bit longer with him at bedtime because he’s needed us a bit more. But overall he’s happy for us to leave him to it once we’ve said goodnight! So I don’t think there’s a right or wrong time for baby/toddler to be able to put themself to sleep, but I do think it’s key to make sure it’s not distressing for anyone.

I still lay with all my kids until they fall asleep. 5yrs soon, 3yrs and 2.5yrs. My son pats his pillow and says “lay down” to me😂 and my oldest will sometimes say “i want u to sleep with me” so I do 🤷🏼‍♀️ they have a cali king rn and its so much more comfortable than mine. Plus sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to help my 3 yr old pee and its easier if im right there