Over lunch one day, the guy sitting to my left was talking about his son’s bed time routine. When he was done, he took time to tell me that his son his mildly autistic and that his routine and his need to ask the same question over and over again is comforting to him.
I smiled and told him that I understand that. Emily has Cri du Chat syndrome and her bedtime routine is extremely important.
Up until a year ago, she was sleeping next to me, in my bed, every single night.
I gave up on trying to make her sleep in her room 12 years ago when she was 5.
12 years of elbows, knees, cold feet and an extremely warm body plastered against me.
12 years of cuddles.
12 years of going to bed with her in order to hold her until she fell asleep.
I knew some medication could help her but I picked cuddles over drugs.
A year ago, out of nowhere, Emily said she was going to her bed and she did!
Back to her routine!
I asked her tonight if I could write about it and she said yes.
Emily gets ready for bed on her own, she changes in her pajamas and brushes her teeth.
Than we get her room ready.
Extra pillows and cushions go in a specific order in their special spot.
We plug her phone in our room (we changed that recently as when it was in her room she was playing with it in the middle of the night)
We start the floor fan (summer, fall, winter, spring).
The blind needs to be pull down completely, no light can enter the room
We turn the tv and dvd off, set a DVDs box in front of the dvd player to block the lights and set the remotes I front of the box.
We turn the ceiling fan on.
Emily jumps in bed and says she’s freezing. 😜
She lays down in the same comfy spot in the same exact position every night.
I give her the 2 babies who always sleep with her and their baby blanket.
Next, it’s blanket time.
First, her “horse” fleece blanket than her bed sheet, than her duvet, followed by the Toronto Maple Leaf fleece blanket, the Justin Bieber fleece blanket and finish is all with the princess fleece blanket.
In that order 365 days per year.
Once she’s under this pile of blankets, I jump on the bed, on Emily 😜 and hug her.
I sing “soft kitty” while tickling her nose with my hair and/or rubbing behind her ears.
After the song, I get up and say good night to all the pretend friends, humans and pets in her room and we go over the rules
There are 6 rules for the pretend friends and some rules have sub-categories. This takes a couple of minutes.
Once it’s all said and done I say good night and walk out while closing her door and making sure all the hallway lights are off too.
If we are interrupted, we need to start again at the song 😳.
The guy at the lunch table, from the beginning of my story, felt Emily’s routine was more complicated than his son’s.
I felt their routine was way more complicated than Emily’s.
Emily’s bed time routine is awesome. We get her room ready than set her up to have a great night’s sleep!
I couldn’t think of any other way for me to have great sleep! 
Good night!
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
Find more about about Cri du Chat syndrome at 5p- Society
Emily has a her own page in the family stories , you can find it here: Emily
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Lessons from my daughter 
I love that you choose snuggles over drugs. I’m sure this hasn’t always been the easiest route but nothing helps like a mommas love.
I was (still am) concern with what medications will do to her. Yes, something for sleep might be harmless for many but I just don’t trust drugs. I pick cuddles!
This is beautiful and I think also very wise. We all need routines to prepare us for what’s coming in the next phase of the day and it’s so important to wind down to get a good night’s sleep!
I’ve shared your blog with a liebster award, hope you’ll like the company and accept the nomination 😉 https://musicfanandrea.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/liebster-award-check-out-these-great-blogs/
Thank you for your comments and for the nomination. I have a couple of nominations outstanding. I will try to get to them soon 🙂
You’re welcome and I’m glad to hear your great blog is getting acknowledged 😊
i love her routine. it’s a nice way for both of you to calmly wind down from the day –
Yes it is! Thank you for stopping by 😘
I love how you have found a routine that is comforting for Emily. Your posts are a joy and an inspiration.
I agree. 😙
Thank you 💜
Thank you. I’m following Emily’s guidance… I’m adjusting to her as we go and she’s surprising us along the way. At some point, I really thought she would forever be sleeping next to me. I’m happy she found decided to sleep in her room, it’s good for her, she’s developing new skills by doing so.
I read this and I have teas if joy remembering ticking in my daughter, reading yo her and staying in her room until she fell asleep. Rocking my son to sleep brim he was four and happy I did these things because I miss that now they are admits and gone. I used to clap my daughters back (clapping) when she had asthma as a riddler refusing to give her string mess that were bad fit her heart. Your post reminded me of all thus.thank you and to Emily. xx
My pleasure! I’m glad it brought back good memories for you. 💜
It really did
Bed time rituals are so important ! You are right to stick to the routine , I did not get to do the ritual as long as you have but I know that having done it had resulted in a very secure young woman. But you do deserve a little elbow room 🙂
Thank you! I traded Emily for Jonathan 😉 He reappeared after all those years, we’ve had to learn to sleep next to each other again.
When Allie has a sleepover at our house, she has to have grandma lay down with her for at least 30 minutes to go to sleep. And, if she wakes in the middle of the night, she’ll come and get grandma. Not me. I just don’t do the same thing for her. I think we all have routines and patterns of behavior. We just recognize it easier in others.
Emily will do sleepover at her Nana’s house and we need to prepare her mentally for those 😊. Once there, she’s normally fine but it happened that we had to go get her.
My oldest used really need his routine. But over time, with traveling and getting home late, etc. we got him outta his comfort zone sometimes. Got him somewhat used to dealing with it as it comes now. He’s never taken any medication at all either. 😃
That’s awesome. Emily doesn’t ask for all when we travel but she waits for us to go to bed together.
Instant sedative, snuggling with a child. Enjoy it while you can! 😃
I do 😊 I love the spontaneous hugs, kisses and cuddles I get from Emily.