Ahhh, Sleep!

It's been a long time since I talked about bedtime with the boys. I am beyond thrilled to tell you that we have FINALLY reached the point where the three of them (mostly) stay in their beds at bedtime and all night.

When we first moved them to big boy beds in May, it was sixteen kinds of crazy. CRAZY! That room was like a frat party out of control for two hours or more every night. We had to sit on top of them to get them to settle down, and even with us right there, they'd goof around until they earned a time out or were sent to the pack and play in our room for exile.

When we hit their third birthday, four months into this everlasting "transition," and were still dealing with shenanigans every night I thought I'd never be able to get rid of the pack and play in our room, even though they were almost too big for it.

Long about Thanksgiving, a full six months after we first moved them out of the cribs (which they were climbing out of anyway), they finally got the hang of bedtime.

At Christmas time, I took down the pack and play so we could move a chair and side table to our room to make way for the Christmas tree.

And I haven't had to put it back up. Yay!

We were pretty settled by Thanksgiving, but Isaac was still struggling to fall asleep at night. He was mostly good about hanging out quietly, but as soon as his brothers were asleep he'd start coming out of the room. Or worse, he'd go take his brothers' blankies or move their beds around and create his own brand of quiet chaos.

Then the miracle of melatonin came into our lives. It has made a world of difference for Isaac, and also for Amelia. Amelia falls asleep pretty well now, but when she was Isaac's age she followed the same pattern of spending up to two hours in bed awake. It was frustrating for the kids and for us!

Our pediatrician told us to try melatonin, and wow! What a difference! I think it helps them settle down enough to realize they are tired. We give it about 20-30 minutes before bedtime most nights. But we never give it at naptime, and the boys have gotten pretty good about laying down with a minimum of chaos and going to sleep. So maybe they really have learned?

Isaac still comes to our bed some nights to snuggle. But now it's more the exception than the rule, and it mostly happens when he's not feeling well. Since it's the exception, I can snuggle up with him and enjoy it. That was not the case when he was interrupting my sleep every night!

Of course, now that I've written this I've probably jinxed myself. But if you are struggling with kids who have trouble falling asleep, I highly recommend the miracle of melatonin!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

The Bedtime Blues

Oh, bedtime. How I hate you.

I used to love you.

But not since the move to big boy beds. (THREE months ago!)

Bedtime used to mean a respite. A chance to recharge, and maybe do something for myself.

Now it means sitting guard over boys for at least an hour, often two.

On Sunday "naptime" involved the boys pushing a mattress to the floor. I walked in when I heard a thunk and crying, and they told me they were "diving into the pool." Alex ripped out the entire back end of his shorts during the time he was supposed to be sleeping in his bed.

We've rewarded, we've yelled, we've separated (temporarily, it's only a 3-bedroom house), we've encouraged, we've persuaded, we've soothed, we've given time outs...to no avail.

Now we've taken away the privilege of going to sleep in the big boy bed for the next couple of days. After a terrible nap and an even worse bedtime, Isaac has been relegated to the pack and play for a couple nights.

I have my doubts that will work, but even at the end of my parenting rope, I know we have to try something. It seems the lure of goofing around with the brothers is worth whatever punishment mom and dad might mete out, and I'm not sure how to change that.

*sigh*

I sure hope they outgrow this phase before they outgrow the pack and play!

(And believe me, I am thinking ahead to just how early I'll be waking them up when they are teenagers. You know what they say about paybacks.)

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Yes, I Can Draw A Line In The Sand

This morning we took three of the four kids to a festival in the park.

Isaac stayed home with a babysitter.

Not because he was sick. Because we've been working all week on rewarding the boys for doing well at nap time and bedtime. And last night he wound up in the the pack and play after getting out of bed several times, despite clear warnings.

I know. Mean mom. I confess that it killed me to leave him behind.

And the boys kept bringing it up as we drove. "Isaac doesn't get to come." "Isaac isn't here today."

OK, could we please leave the knife out of Mommy's heart for a bit?

Isaac cried when we loaded everyone else in the van, but was fine when we left. I had his sitter bring him down at lunchtime so he could get in on a little bit of the fun.

Letting Isaac come for part of the day assuaged my mommy guilt. But then I worried that I was caving by letting him come at all and it wouldn't have any impact.

His brothers took care of that for me.

They kept talking about what they saw and Isaac would say, "We didn't see that." They were quick to reply, "We saw that before you got there. You stayed home with the sitter. You didn't stay in your bed."

Thanks for your support boys!

Tonight Isaac didn't get out of his bed at all. Not once.

That may be an anomaly, but here's hoping he has finally gotten the message.

This parenting gig sure is tough sometimes!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

A Confession

Tonight I got to go pick up Amelia at a friend's house while Jeff put the boys to bed.

I drove two miles UNDER the speed limit the whole way there. And back.

Not that bedtime around here is difficult these days or anything.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

"I'm Twapped!"

Today Isaac refused to stay in his big boy bed at naptime. This has been an ongoing problem, so I moved him to the pack and play in our room as usual.

He got out.

Several times.

It was impossible to keep him in a bed while I was also policing the other two boys who were having a bit of trouble staying in their beds, too. (Although they did MUCH better once I removed Isaac. I think they got the message better than he did.)

Finally I had enough.

As it turns out, you can makeshift a crib tent out of a crib sheet and a pack and play...if you have enough duct tape.

Trust me when I tell you Isaac was not amused.

He was even less amused at bedtime when he wound up in a slightly more sophisticated version of the cage. As I fastened the cover in place with safety pins Isaac looked up at Jeff and said, "I'm twapped! Mommy is twapping me."

You bet I am buddy.

Seems necessity really is the mother of invention.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

A Bedtime Conversation

One of the pluses of having to police bedtime for the boys is getting to hear their conversations with each other. This is what took place the other night when I was sitting quietly in the rocking chair to make sure they stayed in bed.

Alex: Tomorrow we'll get to go to another crade.

Isaac: Not "crade." Pah-rade. Say pah-rade.

Alex: (Very mater of factly) Crade.

Isaac: NO! PAH-rade. Say PAH-rade.

Alex: I said "crade."

Isaac: (Yelling impatiently) NOT CRADE! PAH-RADE!

I guess we know who isn't going to be the teacher around here!

The conversation continued.

Isaac: I like the race car dribers.

Alex: Yeah! We could dribe race cars.

Sam: Yeah! And we could be a marching band.

Alex: Yeah! I lub marching bands.

Then after a long pause, Isaac piped up: "I want to stand on a motorcycle."

I don't know what was said after that. I was too busy saying another "Hail Mary" to listen.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

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

Wordful Wednesday: Bedtime Stories with Multiples

When we first found out we were pregnant with our triplets, one of the first things I worried about what we would do at bedtime. (I know there were lots of better things to worry about, but I was hormonal, freaked out, and not thinking straight.)

Anyway, my concern centered around the bedtime routine. From the time Amelia was old enough to sit up and look at a book, we always sat in the rocking chair and read a few books before bed.

How in the world would we do that with three? Would we ever get a chance to enjoy bedtime stories when we had a whole troop on our hands?

The answer to that looks like this:

It took us a while to get to this solution. First we read while they were in their cribs, but showing the book around the room was awkward and no one got snuggles. Then we tried reading while they had their bedtime snack, but again, no snuggling. Then we sat on the floor of their room, which was far from comfortable.

Finally, we hit upon this. Piling on Mom and Dad's bed for bedtime stories works for us. There's plenty of room for everyone and it's comfortable for the big people. And since bedtime is the only time we really ever allow the boys in our room, it's a special time every night.

Like everything in thias crazy life with multiples (or even just life with multiple kids), it just takes a little creativity and flexibility to find a solution.

Play along with Wordful Wednesday at:

© 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!