Routine, routine, routine, routine!!!!
At this stage of our lives, everything pretty much revolves around a routine and oh boy, do we feel it when this routine is interrupted!
The last couple of weeks or I think months, we've been fighting the routine battle. Micah, who still had two naps everyday, started refusing to sleep in the afternoon, which deemed a problem, as Jethro was still having his afternoon naps and would only sleep if Micah was not awake. This threw our nice and snug routine off the map.
First try in restructuring the order in our house:
Logical solution, two sleeps became one and I moved Micah's early morning sleep from 09h30 to 11h00. Problem: too early for Jethro to have a sleep and like I said, when Micah wakes up at 13h30, there is no way that Jethro will sleep. So, for a while we tried this, and Jethro had no sleep and I ended up with a very cranky 4 year old. So, first try = failure!
Then one bright, sunny afternoon, a friend suggested that I carry on putting Micah down for two naps. She suggested that I wake him up after 30 or 45 minutes and then put him down at 14h00 again. This way Jethro would also be able to get his sleep. It sounded like a wonderful idea, and I had a song in my heart as I was mulling over this genius, yet so simple idea.
So, second try in restructuring the order in our house:
Great idea on paper, not so great idea in real life! Why? Micah ended up having two horrible little naps. First one interrupted by mommy who would wake him up and then he would be in a terrible mood. Jethro, who had now grown used to having no naps during the day, was having trouble sleeping everyday! Second try = failure!
Once again, back to the drawing board.
Third try in restructuring the order in our house (currently in progress):
Micah is back to one decent sleep per day. He now goes down at 11h00 and will sleep anything from about 2.5 to 3 hours. Jethro does not have a nap every day, but when he is tired, he will just get into bed by himself. Yes, I am still amazed every time he does it!!
All seems well now and finally I have something I can work and live with.
This does mean that, where as before I had maybe 1.5 hours a day to myself, that this is no longer part of the equation! No time for myself during the day! Nada! I am now a fuller full-time mom than before and all the stuff I got to do in those precious 1.5 hours, now have to wait until night when my babies are both sleeping! Or when it's bath time and my wonderful husband
gives me some time off!
The last couple of weeks or I think months, we've been fighting the routine battle. Micah, who still had two naps everyday, started refusing to sleep in the afternoon, which deemed a problem, as Jethro was still having his afternoon naps and would only sleep if Micah was not awake. This threw our nice and snug routine off the map.
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| Babies giving Dad a cuddle, ready for bed |
Logical solution, two sleeps became one and I moved Micah's early morning sleep from 09h30 to 11h00. Problem: too early for Jethro to have a sleep and like I said, when Micah wakes up at 13h30, there is no way that Jethro will sleep. So, for a while we tried this, and Jethro had no sleep and I ended up with a very cranky 4 year old. So, first try = failure!
Then one bright, sunny afternoon, a friend suggested that I carry on putting Micah down for two naps. She suggested that I wake him up after 30 or 45 minutes and then put him down at 14h00 again. This way Jethro would also be able to get his sleep. It sounded like a wonderful idea, and I had a song in my heart as I was mulling over this genius, yet so simple idea.
So, second try in restructuring the order in our house:
Great idea on paper, not so great idea in real life! Why? Micah ended up having two horrible little naps. First one interrupted by mommy who would wake him up and then he would be in a terrible mood. Jethro, who had now grown used to having no naps during the day, was having trouble sleeping everyday! Second try = failure!
Once again, back to the drawing board.
Third try in restructuring the order in our house (currently in progress):
Micah is back to one decent sleep per day. He now goes down at 11h00 and will sleep anything from about 2.5 to 3 hours. Jethro does not have a nap every day, but when he is tired, he will just get into bed by himself. Yes, I am still amazed every time he does it!!
All seems well now and finally I have something I can work and live with.
This does mean that, where as before I had maybe 1.5 hours a day to myself, that this is no longer part of the equation! No time for myself during the day! Nada! I am now a fuller full-time mom than before and all the stuff I got to do in those precious 1.5 hours, now have to wait until night when my babies are both sleeping! Or when it's bath time and my wonderful husband
gives me some time off!
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