Of all the bedtime rituals out there, the most helpful to me has been the bedtime song. When my children are little more than newborns I start singing the same song to them every time I put them to bed. For both of them it has been "God is so Good." This simple song quickly becomes the signal that it is time to sleep. We can skip baths, read three book or no book, be in a plane, car, someone else's house, in the daytime or the dead of night, but if that song is sung, they know it is time to sleep. It has allowed me great flexibility and has helped both my children transition to "big" beds with barely a hiccup. (About the age of 1.5 - 2 I ended up not needing to sing the song anymore to signal bed time). My husband says some day it will be sung at church and our kids will fall asleep in the pew.