Night Night

Every parent has developed their own bedtime routine to help get their little ones to sleep. I love hearing what other parents do and comparing it to our own routines. Do you bathe nightly and go right to bed after a bath? Do you sing to your little ones and rock them to sleep?  Do they sleep with a lovey?  A blanket?  A pacifier?  Or God forbid, do you lay them down with a bottle? 

Shortly after having kids, I learned about how important it is to develop a good routine to help cue children that it is time to fall asleep. Luckily we have been blessed with three pretty good sleepers. Alena's bedtime routine has evolved over the last 4 years. It is a LONG routine so we usually start the process at least 30 minutes before her actual "time to sleep" time.  As she's gotten older, she attempts to delay her bedtime as much as possible.  We bathe the little ones every other night.  I know some people may think that is crazy, but honestly unless it's 100 degrees out and they have been rolling around in dirt, a bath every night is just not necessary.  Plus, I love having a little extra time in the evenings to spend with my loves.  Justin and I trade off nights putting Alena to sleep. She is so good at giving her brother and sister a hug and a kiss before she goes up for bed. There have been many instances where we put a twin to bed before Alena had a chance to give him/her a goodnight kiss. So we allow her to quietly go into their room and blow that twin a kiss otherwise she will not go to sleep!  Because her bedtime routine is so long, she usually only has time for one book.  Lately, she will get hooked on a couple books that we read over and over for many weeks before moving onto new books. After her book we turn the lights off for story time. She used to let us make up stories, which I found pretty enjoyable. My favorite was the story with the Chinese lady who found our lost cat, Milo. I had perfected my Chinese accent after telling this story many, many times.  We both would end up cracking up during this story.  Lately, she wants us to retell a story of something that actually happened, such as a recent wedding we went to or a trip we took. After the story, she usually needs to go to the bathroom again (she must have inherited my bladder), and have a drink of water. Sometimes applying chap stick and lotion comes next. Finally, she is tucked back into bed again. However, before she will fall asleep, she makes me give each of her teddys a hug and a kiss. We used to limit her to 2 animals, but lately a third has joined her in bed. After turning on her fan, and giving her a big hug and kiss, I'm finally free to leave the room. (We are big believers in white noise and have a fan running in each bedroom).

The twins usually give cues to let us know they are ready for bed. Many times Lauren is ready to hit the sack by 7:00 PM. We sometimes lay them down at the same time, but if we don't, we make sure the first twin is asleep before putting the other one down. I like to sing them a song while walking upstairs with them before turning on their lullaby CD and fan and laying them down in the crib with their lovey. Lauren is obsessed with sucking on her bunny's ears and Caleb just gives his lion a hug and rolls onto his tummy. Lauren is definitely a deeper sleeper than Caleb and can sleep through Caleb crying if he wakes up from teething pain. Lauren, however, has a high ear-piercing cry that no one can sleep through! Caleb loves his little cat naps in the van on the way to and from school. I've also learned that he can sleep pretty much anywhere if he's tired. A few weeks ago he fell asleep in his high chair during lunch. A few months ago, he was in the infant room and Ms Pinky was looking for him and couldn't find him. He had crawled over to his crib, grabbing a stuffed panda on the way, and fallen asleep right in front of his crib. Just recently he fell asleep on the playground at school!  The great thing is, he is always in a good mood, even after just a little cat nap. 

We are so thankful that Alena continues to take a nap most of the time, but lately she has been protesting her nap. We still tell her she has to go up to her room for "quiet time" and 9 times out of 10, she will fall asleep.  It is so nice on the weekend to have a couple hours of kid-free time.  Justin and I usually hurry and get as much done around the house or outside as possible before anyone wakes from their slumber.

Now if only there was time during day for mom and dad to take a nap...