Whitney- what you are doing is completely right. You are the parent and you are the one loosing sleep and your hair over cranky children that won’t sleep and cry if they are overtired. If I were you I would choose not to fight the battle at all since my sanity and the well being of my children trumps everything else and I would not travel with the in-laws. Reality is harsh but parenting is harder. What your in-laws think-that’s their problem. Do what’s best for you and your kids. Bravo mama.

@Dr. Dinesh – Thank you for stopping by and for your comment!

Routines give little children a sense of security, a feeling of being smart and a sense of time. And they’re important for toddlers at every stage! I want to suggest you one of the best child specialist in India. Dr. Dinesh Singhal is the best child vaccination in Delhi

@ Whitney- Thanks for sharing, and I have dealt with the same thing with my family! 4th of July warranted many comments from party goers scoffing at us leaving the party at 7:30, but even 30 minutes past bedtime means my little one will not sleep easily!

@ Kathy- At least the comments are unvoiced in your circle! 🙂
Yoe are obviously NOT alone in needing to stick to schedules, and in the end i think it pays off for all of us!!!

I know I am criticized by this family for being “rigid” as I never made it to the dinner because I was in the room with my sleeping child/ren (the 9 month old down by 7:30 each night). I am still rigid with my 9 month old, which means sleeping in a quiet, dark room for naps, usually about 2 hours after he wakes up, but watching tired signs. The trip involved two travel days where he had to nap on the go, and it was pretty disastrous! However, he does quite well sleeping in an ergo carrier with a nursing cover over the top to block out light and the white noise application on my iphone blasting in his ears!

In their case, it’s not only the parents who have to deal with the consequences of the lack of napping or having any sort of consistent sleep time. Everyone around the crying child also has to deal with it (oh, did I mention they are also of the philosophy of ignoring crying children?)!

Anyway, thanks for this post.

@Lainie Both my boys were in bed on the 4th of July by 8 p.m. or so, so you’re definitely not alone! 😀 My eldest did want to stay up so bad to see fireworks, but experience has shown me he’s still not ready. By 9:30 p.m. he becomes manic, whiny, and just melts down and unable to function. It’s actually sad and hard to watch him be so miserable. 🙁 Maybe next year. Or, maybe next year I can get him to take a little nap (though he hasn’t since 2 1/2), so he can make it. I know one day he’ll be able to do it, so what’s the rush?

@Jo I am glad you found what works for you and your baby! You are exactly right. Thanks for commenting!

@Renae My son did not get on a rigid schedule by the clock, but based on awake time. I think what Jo said is exactly right that “rigid” means something different to everyone. For me it meant being home for as many naps as we could and not keeping him up past his comfort zone, because it meant short naps and more night-wakings. I always err’d on less awake time rather than too much and over time I had to modify how long he could stay up, if he started to routinely take too long to fall asleep. I had to put him down BEFORE he got cranky, though. So, it sounds like your baby is very similar to mine that the amount of awake time and his tiredness level is what drives your routine/schedule, not the time on the clock. Some babies are simply more tied to the clock than others and it changes as they get older, too. Parenting is so tricky, isn’t it? 🙂 Good luck!

@Claudette I totally agree that my boys are SO much more well-behaved when they are well-rested that I’d prefer that to keeping them up any day. And, when you do pay attention to sleep so much, it is hard to see other babies/kids who are so over-tired that it’s obvious and then the parents are so impatient with their whining or melting down. Sometimes we do need to balance other life events (like my husband’s grandmother’s wake that kept my son out past his bedtime for a few days and then permanently seemed to lead to later bedtimes), but such is life. I’m sure you get tired of the comments, but good for you for sticking by your beliefs! If my eldest COULD handle some later bedtimes or what-not, I might do it once in awhile, but he just can’t, so that’s just how it goes. Thanks for chiming in!