I tend to tell friends who don’t have children that there are two types of parents: “schedule people” and “non-schedule people.” Whether or not this is 100% accurate, it’s definitely how Mr. H and I view parenting these days, and we are most definitely “schedule people.”

I sometimes wish that we were more relaxed about things. We see other families out and about in our neighborhood around 7:30/8:00pm with LOs around Miss H’s age, and we can’t believe they are out. “Craziness!” we think to ourselves, “When exactly does that baby go to bed?!” I want to clarify that we’re definitely not judging other parents and when they choose to put their children to bed. In truth, I think it makes us a little bit nervous. We don’t quite understand how that works – are they out that late every night? Or is bedtime different every night? How do you plan for different changes in schedule and what do you do if you’re out and about and baby has an meltdown of epic proportions? How does this work?! Our brains literally can’t process the uncertainty of it all!


Stay up past 7:00pm? Oh the horror!

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 Like I said, we’re schedule people. Every single night since Miss H started sleeping through the night at 12 weeks, one or both of us is home and putting Miss H to bed at 7pm. We’ve only missed this bedtime a handful of times in the past 10 months – once when we attended a wedding with Miss H and a few times when we’ve been traveling and getting her into a crib at 7pm was not an option.

Our routine is one that I think Miss H has grown to crave as much as we do. When she starts tiring out in late afternoon, she’ll start to sing “night night.” She knows it’s almost time. When I put her in her crib after a few stories and a song, she almost seems relieved to be in there. It’s time to sleep!

I try not to take our schedule for granted. As we’re entering toddlerhood I know that sleep can get completely out of whack and we should be prepared for anything and everything. I also know that while our nightly routine and strict schedule probably helps things, I also understand that Miss H is probably just a good sleeper, that it’s as much her and how she’s meant to be as it is our influence over her schedule. She simply likes to sleep and enjoys her 7pm-7am snoozes!

We could probably live on the edge a little bit – go out for an early dinner or a late trip to the park now that summer is here. But that would mean jeopardizing the system that works so well for us. Right now Miss H isn’t showing any signs of needing her evening schedule to change. She’s definitely tired by the time 6:30pm rolls around and she rarely fusses when she’s goes into her crib. She sleeps through the night perfectly and pops her head up happily when I go in her room around 6:45am/7:00am each morning. So for the time being we will continue to live in our scheduled little world and stick with the early bedtime. We may not have as much fun with our little schedule, but I’ll trade fun for sleep any day of the week!

Are you a “schedule person” or a “non-schedule person?” Do you feel like schedules dramatically impact bedtime?