For those whose kids don't fall asleep easily, may I just say that all of the folks who told me to try audiobooks were COMPLETELY RIGHT. It's been a week now, and every night that Anand's book-playing device was charged (it took us a while to figure out a routine for making sure that happened daily), he just went to bed at 8 p.m. with his sister, per usual, but then STAYED IN BED. Previously, she would fall asleep quickly and he would then immediately get bored and come bother us for basically another hour. This is MAGIC. I'm not sure when he's actually falling asleep, but I suspect much earlier than he was, and regardless, I've gotten an hour back in the evenings and IT IS AWESOME.
This commercial brought to you by audiobooks. Returning your sanity, one child at a time.
Oh, and the specific combination we're using is an iPod Shuffle and a Totoro pillow player -- he loves to snuggle up with it, and clearly finds the whole thing immensely comforting. So far, he's just been listening to Paddington over and over -- if I have to buy him a new book every week, it will be well worth it. I have Winne-the-Pooh waiting.
