Life Changing Routines and Two Year Old Bedtimes

Yes, for 6 months Aaron was in a cot and it was a very normal household but Xmas 2010 Aaron had a head cold, congested, and runny nose and every hour or so I was pacing the floor with him, and he struggled to breast or bottle feed due to the congestion.  The husband saw me walking by the cot cuddling him and said just bring him in with us.  I knew it'd be a routine that would be hard to break but I did it as I had work the next day and I knew we'd sleep better together.

Fast forward and he has been in our bed for 2 whole years.

I am now officially a co-sleeper and I love it BUT it can mean late nights and late mornings - since I got made redundant - and life has lost a lot of structure.

Over Xmas Aaron was often going to bed at 10 or 11 and we'd get up at 10 or 11.  It didn't seem too odd as his normal bed time has always been 21:30 anyway.  Me working and him at nursery had never prevented that as we could both cope with 3 early starts given that I worked part-time, (till redundancy in July) 3 days a week.

Just after Xmas there were nights where he'd have had his afternoon nap in the evening and the 10 would become 11 or 12 or even 1 a.m. a couple of nights.

A few weeks ago when he was very sick, he fell asleep at 19:30 two nights in a row and still slept till 10:30 one day and 11:30 another, but in the days after that, when he was recovered (although I did not know it yet) he'd sleep at 19:30 but then wake at 21:30 full of beans and again it'd be nearly 1 a.m. when he'd go to sleep and then sleep till 11 a.m. (which must seem a mad time of day for a toddler to sleep).

Well over a week ago, for 3 nights in a row, I got him back to 21:30 bed time, but the eve of my birthday (31st Jan) I got his Dad to take him to the MIL so I could do an evening of housework and they did not get home till 22:15, and by the time I spent some time with Aaron got his PJs on and gave him a bottle it was VERY late and it stayed VERY late for that night plus 3 more.

Luckily to visit @anyaharris01 on Monday, we had to be up early (me at 6 and Aaron at 6:45) so Monday night Aaron was asleep by 19:30 and last night at home 20:30 and tonight 19:15.

So last night he slept 20:30 to 08:30 this morning.

It's like having a new life.

I must admit, I did not know what to do with myself tonight.... but in the space of an hour I had to go and lie alongside him twice as he is used to me being next to him, so it is not as if I am completely free.

It is now 20:58 and I am hoping he has gone into a deeper sleep as I have a job interview tomorrow and given that my bank account is now EMPTY, I really need to prepare for it.  I wasn't desperate before but I am now.

I also need to tidy the sitting room (that doubles up as his play room)....

Another thing I learned from @anyaharris01 is that we really need TOY BOXES - because every night I am trying to do this: