Bedtime Routine

We have a bedtime routine! That works! The past two weeks, we've done the exact same thing every night to put Beth to sleep, and every night it seems easier and easier to get her down. The routine comes after much recommendation from friends that it really does help get a baby in the right frame of mind for bed. We've tried it before, but I really think Beth was too young to understand it. Now, she doesn't fight me when I try to rock her (I think I had the only kid in the world who hated to be rocked). The whole routine, from start to sleep, is usually about 45 minutes long.

Her routine is this:
1. Bath (usually about 10-15 minutes of play time)
2. PJs and a rubdown with lotion
3. Reading. Mimi's Toes (about bath and bedtime) and Pat the Bunny.
4. Nurse
5. Rock while saying prayers
6. Drift asleep! I may or may not sing "Rock a bye Bethany..."
7. GENTLY place her in her crib with her mermaid

Usually this results in about 3 hours of blissful quietness around our house. She'll wake up and Ryan will soothe her back to sleep (usually takes 2-3 minutes) and she'll sleep for a few more hours. Whenever she wakes up and we're already in bed, she joins us in bed for the rest of the night. This is what I'd like to change, but it's hard since she's still waking up every few hours... Getting her down is now easy, it's keeping her down that's difficult for us. And it seems like it's something she's going to have to figure out on her own!

The results: