While most parents might be trying to get two or three kids ready for bed each night, this mum has to tackle eight, all wanting bedtime stories and cuddles.
Chloe Dunstan’s huge brood is made up of three older kids – Evan, eight, Otto, seven, and Felix, six- followed by triplets Rufus, Hank and Pearl, four and then twins Sylvie and Cosmo were born in October last year.
Every night, Chloe, 27, and husband Rohan spend hours getting all the kids settled so they can have an hour of downtime.
Posting a video on her Youtube channel, the Australian mum said she starts the night prep at 4.30pm.
She makes dinner for them all, while the children start tidying up all their play areas together.
‘The babies have a nap in their rockers, while the others do some tidying up,’ she explained.
‘At the same time, I’ll cook the dinner for the kids.’
Around 6pm, the kids sit down to eat together. Sometimes Chloe and Rohan have dinner with them but other times they wait until the kids are in bed to eat.
The older kids then take it in turns to have a bath or s shower and get their pyjamas on while Chloe washes the babies, often with some of their siblings watching.
Next up, everyone brushes their hair and teeth before they all settle down for a story.
Chloe loves to collect books for the children and now has over 1,000 – all arranged in a colour coordinated way on the shelves.
At 8pm, everyone is tucked into bed, giving the couple some time to themselves.
The triplets go to sleep while the older boys read by themselves for a while before drifting off.
‘It’s definitely gotten easier over the years with the night-time routine as all bar the twins can now dress themselves,’ Chloe said.
‘With the triplets there for a bit when they were young, it was a lot of work. But I think with big families you have to do whatever works for you.’
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