A late-bedtimer toddler means a cranky one the next morning

Bella is sound asleep as I am writing this. It has been a while since I had more time for myself at night. These nights I either fell asleep with her until morning, or even if I woke up I was too sleepy to stay up (and I wondered where has my time gone?)

Back when she was sleep trained Bella used to sleep early, around 8.30pm we were already in bed and she was pretty much in la la land by 9pm.

Sometime between those days and now her bedtime crept up to 11pm, and sometimes it even stretched to 12am.

Wow. So much for sleep training.

Oh well I guess at some point I lose control. I am not blaming anything or anyone, its just circumstances. You know, those night trips to the mall, or to the grannies. Can't really force her for bedtime when all she wanted was to spend more time with her loved ones. Next thing I know she was already used to late night bedtime.

The problem now is that I had to wake her up maximum at 8am every morning for school. When bedtime comes late, so does waking up and you know what happens with a sleepy toddler.

Tantrums and drama.

"No showers!"."I want to sleep some more mommy!". Tossing and turning on the bed when I coaxed her to wake up. Those kind of things.

And I ended up sweating and struggling with my patience, fully dressed up for work.

Sigh.

Now who is really to blame? Me. Definitely me.

So tonight, I made up my mind. Early bedtime will start again.

I came to know that she refused her nap today at school, so no wonder she was so restless this evening, she even earned a few scolds from this impatient mommy. Poor thing.

I knew it was just her being tired, but sometimes, it is just bloody too much. As if I am not a lousy mom already :S

Anyway, I managed to get her on the bed in the dark, despite a final struggle with the Ipad and her drama queen tears. I recited some zikir while getting her to calm down, and Alhamdulillah, so far it has always worked and she was asleep in no time.

I gazed at the clock and it was 9pm.

Perfect start.

Let's see what happens tomorrow morning. I pray hard that tomorrow a bright and happy toddler will wake up beside me right on time.

P/S : Tonight I enjoyed a cuppa coffee while watching TV. Something I have not done for a long time. Ah, screw the no-caffeine-before-bed thing. Haha.

How do you deal with late bedtimes? Are you comfortable with that, or you have strategies of your own?