Oh, to sleep like a baby again. Doesn't she look comfortable?
What a difference five weeks makes. Bedtime and nap time in big girl beds has gotten much better, but it certainly has taken a lot of hard work. We now sit in the room with the girls until they fall asleep. I know; I know, but this was necessary for the survival of us all, and summer break is right around the corner, so we can work on that in just a couple weeks when I don't have to be up before the sun to get ready for work.
The great thing is that {most of the time, really} if we're sitting in their room, Anna Claire and Mallory stay in bed and fall asleep in under 30 minutes which is a huge improvement from all four of us running up and down the hallway for 1 1/2 hours plus!
We've continued to follow our normal bedtime routine...
Bath: splishin' & splashin' & sudsin' & brushin'
Pajama time: we turn on the sound machine, turn off the lights, and get the girls dressed for bed. This is usually when we like to get a little silly with the girls with tickles, bear hugs, a little dancing, etc., but we've tried to tone that down a bit.
Books: we read two books before bedtime; current bedtime favorites are Goodnight, Gorilla; Let's Go to the Farm; and Llama, Llama, Red Pajama {we were reading Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed then decided it just didn't make sense to read a book about monkeys jumping on the bed right now}. We're trying to read books where everyone stays put in their beds and is sleeping at the end.
Bed: we place both girls in their beds, help them say their prayers {got to get this on video!}, and shower the girls with lots of hugs, kisses, and words of encouragement along the lines of: you did great last night and I know you'll do even better tonight; mommy loves you and I know you can stay in your bed all night long; I really want you to get a good night's sleep so we'll see you in the morning; and if you want to go swimming tomorrow, you better stay in bed and go to sleep!!! ;-)
We've continued to follow our normal bedtime routine...
Bath: splishin' & splashin' & sudsin' & brushin'
Pajama time: we turn on the sound machine, turn off the lights, and get the girls dressed for bed. This is usually when we like to get a little silly with the girls with tickles, bear hugs, a little dancing, etc., but we've tried to tone that down a bit.
Books: we read two books before bedtime; current bedtime favorites are Goodnight, Gorilla; Let's Go to the Farm; and Llama, Llama, Red Pajama {we were reading Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed then decided it just didn't make sense to read a book about monkeys jumping on the bed right now}. We're trying to read books where everyone stays put in their beds and is sleeping at the end.
Bed: we place both girls in their beds, help them say their prayers {got to get this on video!}, and shower the girls with lots of hugs, kisses, and words of encouragement along the lines of: you did great last night and I know you'll do even better tonight; mommy loves you and I know you can stay in your bed all night long; I really want you to get a good night's sleep so we'll see you in the morning; and if you want to go swimming tomorrow, you better stay in bed and go to sleep!!! ;-)
Then we wait.
Bedtime really has improved, and I couldn't be more proud of the girls. Now if we could just figure out how to get the girls to stay in bed a little longer after they wake up in the morning.
1 comment:
Oy. This scares me for the times to come. I don't know if it's because E&R are a little younger so they don't know any better, but we've been lucky so far in that they don't really get out of their bed that often unless I come in to get them out. I did do the Supernanny trick the first day, so maybe I broke them down, but I know one of these days it may occur to them, "hey, I don't have to actually STAY here." I'm scared.
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