Family Fridays – The Going to Bed Post
Book: The Going to Bed Book (1982) by Sandra Boynton
Category/Age: Picture Book (Younger), Board Book
Blurb:
This classic bedtime story is just right for winding down the day as a joyful, silly group of animals scrub scrub scrub in the tub, brush and brush and brush their teeth, and finally rock and rock and rock to sleep.
Review:
In our house, this really is The Going To Bed Book. Our bedtime routine with our (one year old) son is to read him a couple of books, then pull this one out. When he sees The Going To Bed Book, he knows the end is near and depending on how tired he is, will either start yawning, crying, or just immediately assume the sleep position (he curls all his limbs underneath him and rolls onto his stomach, which is hilarious when he attempts this while in your lap). Then we’ll turn out the light, sing a song, and put him down. Whereupon he usually screams himself to sleep. This boy does not go gently into that good nap.
Anyways, having a bedtime (and nap) routine has really made the process much easier for all concerned (yes, it’s much better than it used to be – the screaming period is much shorter, and is often just crying), because everyone knows exactly what’s happening, and what will come next. Originally we were just reading him any books, then continuing on, but that meant he started to associate ALL books with being put down in his crib, so whenever you’d pull out a book he’d start to cry. Naturally, I don’t want my son to associate reading with bad things, so we stopped doing any sort of routine for a while. When we started up again a few months later, using The Going To Bed Book as the piece de résistance every time, he quickly learned that books are good, it’s just this book that means he’s going to go to sleep.
Obviously you could pick any book to be your “sleep is coming for you, my friend” signal, but I love this one. It’s short, has a soothing rhythm to read, depicts cute animals getting ready for bed, I can read it 2-3 times per day and not going insane, and most importantly, it’s a board book, which means if your child is trying to escape, it’s in less danger of being damaged.
The bottom line here: consider both bedtime routines and The Going to Bed Book highly recommended.
Do you or your children have bedtime routines? Did you have any books you used as you bedtime books?
Get it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
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