Escapee Alert!

The escaping from the cribs has begun in earnest. Yesterday nap time was full of little footsteps running across the floor, the boys' bedroom door opening and closing and ultimately, I caught Isaac in Sam's crib--twice!

I finally had to sit in the boys' room and police the nap time so they'd stay in their cribs. Fortunately, they didn't repeat the hijinks at bedtime.

We've been pretty lucky that it's taken the boys this long to start climbing out of their cribs since they've been climbing since they were 11 months old. Isaac was the first to climb out of his crib, but he fell doing it and it scared him and Alex badly enough to keep them in place for quite a while. Alex made the next attempt, and he belly flopped to the floor. That only left Sam, and every time he'd try to climb out, Alex would sound the alarm by screaming at him, "Only Mommy and Daddy get us out!"

Sam climbed out last week when he was in time out, and now they've all figured out how to do it without getting hurt, so the glory days of trapping them in their cribs are pretty much over.

Since one of my mantras when it comes to parenting multiples is "Containment is key," this is tough news to take!

We've been talking about moving the boys to big kid beds, but there's a big difference between talking and doing.

Sure, it makes sense to move them and get them adjusted to big boy beds before we travel this summer. Just think, no pack and plays to lug along!

But actually moving the boys? Taking down the cribs and replacing them with beds that they can jump on, climb in and out of, and generally do anything but sleep in?

*shudder*

I figure that things are so bad right now when it comes to partying at nap time that we may as well make the change and just plan to police them for a while until they settle in. At least we'll minimize the risk of them getting hurt as they carry on with each other. I'm already playing nap police, and I can police big boy beds as well as cribs.

They'll have to move to big boy beds at sometime, so I'm relying on another of my mantras to get through this: "Be brave."

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Bedtime Blues

I hate a bad bedtime.

You know the kind. Where there's lots of whining, negotiating, dragging of feet (the three year old) and crying and screaming (the 15 month olds, and sometimes the three year old, too!).

I have to work very hard not to let it ruin my whole day.

But it is so frustrating to me that four children who go down like champs for the naps can fight bedtime so hard.

Fortunately this is not an every day occurrence, but tonight was one of those nights.

It's not too bad when one child has trouble going down, but when two or more have trouble, it's a real struggle for all of us.

And when everyone is FINALLY in bed and quiet, there are still dishes to be done, laundry to fold, and picking up to do--the things that usually get done in the extra hour plus we spent getting kids to sleep tonight. And I just don't want to face it.

By 8:30 p.m. I am ready to be done for the day. After 14-hour days, plus getting up some at night, I am ready for the chores to be done and to have some time to catch up with my husband or do something for myself for a change.

Three babies plus a preschooler all day is physically and mentally demanding and by 8:30 my patience is limited and I'm reaching the end of my physical capacity, too.

Seems I need to learn how to do a quick recharge for nights like tonight. And I need to not let it ruin what was a pretty good day. The boys were lots of laughs, and Amelia and I got to bake together. As I just pointed out, it was a 14-hour day, so I guess letting the last hour and a half cancel out all the good is really silly.

Just gotta shake off these bedtime blues!

A Win-Win

Just when I had reformed my ways when it comes to making the bed, this news item comes to my attention: Untidy Beds May Keep Us Healthy.

Turns out that leaving the sheets pulled back deprives dust mites of what they need to survive. Unmade bed = no dust mites, which can cause allergies and asthma.

I've decided this is a win-win. If I make the bed, the room looks neat and clean. If I don't, I'm airing out the sheets to keep my family healthy.

Now I just need to make sure everyone in the world knows this so they can applaud my efforts to keep my family healthy instead of frowning at my slovenly ways.

And speaking of beds, I think I hear mine calling now...

Big Changes for the Big Girl

Today, we took the crib out of Amelia's room.

Amelia and her "old" bed.

She's been sleeping in the big girl bed for three months now, only occasionally asking to go back into her crib -- usually when she's having trouble falling asleep at night. Amelia will be three at the end of the month, so it's time.

Amelia was in an exceptionally good mood this morning, so I decided to strike while the iron was hot. Once she decided it was a great idea to take the crib out of her room, she was all smiles about it. Mom, on the other hand, was a little sad, even though I have three other little ones in cribs right now. I'm allowed! She's my first baby, after all.

Amelia's room, sans crib.

We immediately co-opted Amelia's crib for the boys, as one of the cribs we bought secondhand needs a little repair.

After all the enthusiasm about not needing a crib, and the disassembly, moving and reassembly of her crib in the boys' room, I'm afraid that Amelia isn't sleeping in her big girl bed tonight. Tonight she's sleeping...

...make that "camping," in the basement with Daddy. Just a little something fun for the weekend!

Hope your weekend is turning out to be as much fun as ours. Tomorrow afternoon we'll be having s'mores. (Can't do them at night. The child's sugar high outlasts Mom & Dad's energy levels by hours.)

Night Owl

Amelia is a bit of a night owl, and while she comes by it honestly (from me), I wish she would fall asleep faster. It's not unusual for her to lie in bed for an hour or even two before she finally falls asleep. Generally she's very good about staying in bed and being quiet while she tries to go to sleep. I just hate the fact that it takes her so long! Especially because I know she needs her sleep. But, you can't force a child to sleep, so I've learned to accept it...more or less.

While Amelia moved herself to the big girl bed a while back, she's been going back and forth between the bed and the crib for the last months or so. Then the other day, she climbed into the crib by herself. We had suspected she could do this, but for whatever reason, she doesn't think she can climb out. So, I made a big deal out of it and told her that means she's too big for the crib now and on her birthday we can take it out of her room.

I gave Jeff the heads up, and he made an equally big deal out of it when he came home. Amelia was all smiles, talking about what a big girl she is and how she doesn't need the crib anymore. She's been very, very good about sleeping in the bed ever since.

From the time Amelia was a little baby, we've played an ocean sounds CD in her room all night long. (Hey, when your child doesn't sleep, you'll try almost anything!) We joke that she's going to think she grew up on the coast. In the last week, she's asked for the "Mama bird song," that is on another sleepytime CD we sometimes play as we get ready for bed. The song is "Hush Little Baby," and the lyrics are, "... mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird." I chuckle every time she says "mama bird" instead of "mocking bird."

I did have to go in the other night and turn the sound down a couple notches. I was slowly going crazy hearing the occasional snatch of that song over and over and over. When I'm old and senile and shuffling around the nursing home in my slippers you'll all know why I keep singing the "Mama bird song" endlessly.

Big Girl Bed

Last week, Amelia asked if she could sleep in the big girl bed in her room. Yes, she's fast approaching three and still in the crib. It's a good place for a little girl who doesn't sleep through the night very well yet. I've threatened to leave her there until she hits her teens and learns to sleep all the time.

There has always been a daybed in Amelia's room, and we've napped on it from time to time or laid down with her on it when she's struggling to fall asleep. But one night last week she asked to sleep there for the night. Since she was interested and it's probably about time, I said yes. I did tell her she had to stay in it, and she did pretty well. She got up once, and scared the tar out of Jeff when she padded into the kitched in her footed jammies. She's slept there every night since, and seems to be sleeping better at night, too!

Amelia in the big girl bed

As Jeff says, why should it be a surprise the she's moved herself to the big girl bed? She did exactly the same thing with the potty. We had a potty chair, but weren't pushing the issue and then one day Amelia decided she wanted to use it and within a month she was fully trained. She also started to insist on not wearing a diaper to bed at night, too, and rarely had an accident after she made that decision.

Exactly who is raising this child? Her or us?