As I have written before, when nighttime comes, important brain function seems to cease for young children. It is simply impossible for young kids to follow the progression of events involved in the nighttime routine from start to finish without guidance from an adult. They get distracted and silly, and you will find them in daytime pants and a pajama top, doing something totally off-task, probably in some room they are not supposed to be in! The problem is that most families have more than one child, and most children these days are spaced quite close together. It is difficult to do bedtime (particularly when only one parents is present) if you have multiple kids that all go to bed at around the same time. For preschoolers, try making them a simple bedtime schedule. On a sheet of paper, print out pictures in order of what your child is supposed to do each night – jammies, teeth, story, potty, bed, for example. Give them a little sheet of stickers. As they complete each task, have them place a sticker next to the task. They will see this as a game, and relish the idea of filling up their sheet with stickers. Reward them for getting through their routine with relative efficiency. For example, if they are done all their tasks by the time you come into their room after putting a younger sibling to bed, read them an extra story.