I just got my daughter back after a huge custody battle, and am struggling on getting her to bed at a normal time. The first night home, she went to bed at 7:30 which was PERFECT for me as I am a stay at home mom with lots of things to do around the house while Hubby is at work. Not to mention I'm 6 months pregnant, but feeling like I'm 9. But if I don't put her in the crib and let her fall asleep on her own she'll stay up till midnight. Not to mention become a complete crab ass. I'm not sure if she had a schedule before, but I've looked up age appropriate bed times for a two year old and it's says like 7:00-7:30. I try to avoid doing the cry it out method, we do dinner at 6, shower at 6:30, then lay in a dark room with either a movie or reading a book. But if it starts getting "late" I put her in her crib, give kisses, and walk out. Yesterday she woke up at 8:30 so, last night I put her to bed at 9pm, and she cried for maybe 5 minutes. Saying "mommy!" over and over. We've been doing two hour naps, but cut it down to 1 hour 15 minutes because she stays up so late. Tonight I put her to bed at 8pm instead of 9, because I woke her up at 7:30 and we had an eventful day. She starts to yawn and stuff around 6:45 so I know she gets tired around then. She just doesn't like the idea of having a bed time. She's used to just falling asleep in someone's arms and being put into a bed I'm sure, or sleeping with an adult. But my Husband and I are already spending time apart when he's as work, and focusing on our daughter now that she's at home with us. So at night we wanna snuggle and relax together.

What ages are your children and what time do they go to bed?

Am I being too hard on her by doing the cry it out method?

Any suggestions are welcome!

xoxox.