A hard-pressed mum has shared a brilliant and fun – but really simple – way to encourage kids to go quickly through the stages of their nighttime routine with the minimum of fuss.
Bedtimes with your children can be a real time-consuming headache at times, often reaching the stage of you wanting to pull out your own hair in frustration – and it can be made even worse if your little ones always seem find some new burst of energy to make things difficult – just as you are trying to wind down and get some much-needed relaxation.
But one frustrated mum on TikTok turned to her own mother, who came up with this amazing low-cost solution to show your kids what they should be doing and in what order – meaning the youngsters take pleasure in running through all the stages – and it takes just 10 minutes.
In the video, which was posted on her @laurengiesting account, via @babycentreuk, Lauren Giesting shared with viewers how to avoid the bedtime chaos she used to experience.
Lauren shows a hand-drawn chart made by her mother with seven pull-down sections with velcro tags that guides her kids through their routine. There are lots of fun drawings illustrating each action the kids need to take, including from 'go potty', 'wash or bath', 'brush teeth' and put on pyjamas, to 'read books '.
She said: "This has been a game-changer in our household. My amazing mother made these for my kids because our bedtime has been disastrous and I've never seen my kids more excited to brush their teeth and put on their pyjamas and read a book. It has turned our bedtime routine from 30, maybe an hour to 10 minutes. Amazing!"
The video has attracted 3420 comments, with viewers agreeing it's a brilliant idea. The comments included: "I always wanted something like this without using stickers or having to redo every week thanks so much for sharing," and "I've used lots of variations as a mum and teacher, but I love that it's all connected so that there are no icons/tokens to lose or stickers to buy."
Some adults even thought it might be good for them to try too. One comment was: "I am almost 33 and this would be amazing for me – medication, wash face, brush teeth, etc." While another said: "Can your mom make one like this for a 26-year-old that's totally not me? Pretty please?"