The Nap
Oh, the nap. How I love thee. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I think I’ve finally cracked the napping puzzle.
In case you don’t remember, ever since the twins transitioned into toddler beds, nap time has been sheer torture. It usually ends up with some yelling, screaming, and lots of crying. The crying is mostly from me. I am not ready for them to give up their nap, and they really are not ready either. If they don’t take a nap, they are super cranky in the hours that lead up to bedtime. This leads to super cranky mommy, and a dad that wishes he’d stayed at work.
So, this is the plan I’ve been following for the last week with about a 90% success rate.
The Routine
After lunch, I change my little guy’s diaper, and put him in his bed. He’s usually pretty good, and doesn’t fight me, when he goes in alone. I leave him in his room by himself for a good 10 minutes, so he gets nice and sleepy.
In the meantime, my oldest and big guy are watching a little TV. I then change big guy’s diaper, and start telling him it’s nap time. I either let him play with his trains (without his brother stealing any) or just let him sit in my lap and watch with his brother. After 10 minutes, I go and take him to the room.
By this time, little guy is too sleepy to jump out of his bed and bug his brother. This was the main problem before. He would get out, run and jump in his brother’s bed or steal his toys and blankets. Big guy doesn’t get out of his bed often, so I do our night-time routine (more on this later,) and he goes to sleep.
Aaaah. Peace and quiet for about an hour. It’s not as long as they used to nap in their cribs, but I’ll take it. About once a week I can also get my oldest to lay down, so mommy may or may not take a nap too. Otherwise, I can finally get some work done because my oldest usually plays Legos or watches one of his shows. Or I can eat lunch without sharing.
Bedtime
Now, about that bedtime routine…I think we’ve created a bit of a situation here. It all started when I bought them this moon*:
It super cool. It comes with a remote, and goes through the phases of the moon. You can even program it. However, the boys just like it as a Full Moon. All. The. Time.
So, turning the full moon on is step one. Step two, is turning the Hello Kitty* on. This:
And the third step is turning the Turtle* on. This:
After all the night lights are on, it is time to brush teeth. Then, we must put cream on their faces. (The cream started because they have chapped cheeks from this beautiful, dry Wisconsin winter.)
And finally it’s time for the super annoying music. I’ve tried to change the CD a number of times, but they always seem to want the same one.
If your toddlers don’t have a favorite yet, I highly recommend starting with either of these instead.
The One Problem
Here is the problem.
These night lights only stay on for about 20 minutes. My little guy doesn’t really care if they go off, BUT the big guy goes ballistic if they turn off before he falls asleep. And by ballistic, I mean he screams for MOON or KITTY or TURTLE at the top of his lungs and cries and carries on until someone comes in to turn them on. By that time, he is also in need of a tissue because he has “notty nose” from crying, then needs his “creamy” re-applied.
Also, the CD eventually runs out too. Can you guess what happens if someone is still awake and there is no music?!
This is the situation. We’ve created a bedtime monster. But at least we have a routine?
Do you have a routine for Bedtime? Or nap time? Tell me your secrets!
*These are the actual products we use, love, and fight over. If you would like to purchase, simply click on the picture, and it will take you through my affiliate link for Amazon. If you purchase through my link, I do receive some compensation. Like pennies. But still, thank you.
I’m not a mommy yet, but I’m a nanny for twin 6-month olds currently during my time off in between college graduation and starting grad school next June. I have been working very hard with Mom to establish a sleep routine for the boys! It is not an easy task! I give you props for being a mommy to twins!! (Found you via Facebook Let Your Blog Shine Group) 🙂
http://inspirationindulgence.com
Thank you! Yes, twins are hard work. I hope you and the mom can get a good sleep routine soon!
Wow, 2 in diapers? Fun! I remember those days – vaguely. I had a hard time getting my oldest, who’s now 14, to stay in his toddler bed. And my daughter, now 12, would just climb out of her crib like a little monkey. You’ve got your hands full! My youngest is 6 and I still like to nap sometimes – for himself and for me!
Yes! It’s a bit of a madhouse here! Thanks for stopping by.
My youngest who is turning 3 on Thursday has been working on giving up his naps as well. Oh how I am missing those 2 hours of “mom free time” in the afternoon! It sounds like you are working on finding a good routine that will work for you and the kiddos. Good luck with it!
Thank you! Definitely need luck! And hope your little guy will nap for at least another couple months! 🙂
My youngest is 16 months old and her sleep schedule has been thrown off. She used to take two naps during the day… now we’re lucky if she takes one and it’s usually later in the day. She’s still not sleeping through the night, hoping that changes soon.
Oh no! That’s the worst. I hope she sleeps through the night soon! Thank you for stopping by.
I definitely wish they could put themselves to sleep! 🙂 My oldest starts kindergarten this year, so we’ll have to work on a way to get him in bed earlier too.
My young grandchildren often come to grandma’s house for the weekend and we almost always struggle with naps and bedtime. This is the perfect post to give us some ideas on how to resolve that. Thank you for this wonderful share!
Thank you so much! I hope you find something that works!
I have a baby and toddler and naps schedules are such a mystery still! Just when I think I have things figured out, they switch it up on me. Thanks for sharing!
Yes! It’s definitely hard to find a routine that works every time. Those darn kids 😉 thanks for stopping by!
90% success rate? That is definitely cause for a nap-time party 😉 I haven’t tried the other products you’ve listed, but we have two dreamlites over here and they work wonders on my 6 year old. After our bedtime routine, we turn it on, put on an Adventures in Odyssey CD and she’s knocked out within 20 minutes. Nice and easy!
I might have to check out that CD. Right now, which I forgot to mention, we have one of those noise machines. Music sounds like a nice alternative…more soothing. Thanks for stopping by!
I remember dreading those times when the littles would give up their nap time, cause I needed that rest as much as they did! Keep with the routine, at least they know what to plan on and it does help them settle down.
I’ve been trying to work instead of rest now, but some days you just need that rest too. Thank you for reading and stopping by!
I really enjoyed reading this! Takes me right back to just a few short years ago, when I spent so much time and thought trying to crack the code of the perfect naptime and bedtime routines! Lol! Those routines are so important and really can help make getting to sleep so much easier … for EVERYONE involved! 😀
Yes! We didn’t really have a routine for my oldest, and we sure did suffer! This time around we did things differently, and hopefully, it will keep working. Thanks for stopping by!
Honestly, whatever routine works for a mom is what I say you should go with. BTW, is it just me? I can’t see the links to the moon (or to Hello Kitty or the turtle, for that matter). I’m interested in the moon thing, though, so let me know when that’s fixed!
Hi Donella! You can actually just click on the picture, and it should take you there. I’ll try it out, and fix it, if it doesn’t work. Thanks for reading!
One of the milestones I dreaded the most when my children were toddlers was the stage they go from two naps to one and in my daughter’s case, she stopped napping all together.
Oh no! I know that day is coming soon for me too….just not yet please! Thanks for reading!
That’s great you have got nap time improved! I’m sure it’s a much needed break.
Oh, how I remember the naps. Then I was away at work and the babysitter had to deal with it. Missed out on the routine.
Nap time today was an absolute disaster and he ended up going down three hours later than usual :/
My twins did NOT nap again. Ugh.
I miss nap time too. Our son dropped his at 2 but I will say he sleeps so much better at night now so I’m not too upset about it.
If only that were true of the twins. Actually, they are pretty good sleepers at night, they just wake up super, super early…no matter how late they go to bed.
Yes!
It’s pretty cool. It makes light patterns that move around too.
Yes! We need to do that too.
I remember getting SO many things done during nap time. I love your story about your little guy going ballistic when his night light friend turned off before he was asleep. Very cute (probably not at the moment, but funny to look back on).
Some day I’ll be able to laugh…. 😉
I miss nap too. I wish I could also take little nap after lunch.
Ha ha! Yes, it will definitely give you something of your own and a little sanity. I’ll come check it out! Thank you so much for stopping by 🙂
Ha ha! Yes, it will definitely give you something of your own and a little sanity. I’ll come check it out! Thank you so much for stopping by 🙂
Nap time was so hard for me in the beginning because my LO would only sleep for 30 minutes at a time (MAX)! But she seemed to slowly start taking longer and longer naps and reached a point where she was taking 3 hour ones!! woot woot! But now her naps are more like 1-2 hours. I feel like sleep is something that is constantly changing with her. The moment you feel like you have it figured out, they change! It sounds as though you are doing a lovely job though! I only have one so I can’t really imagine juggling 3 at this point. Way to go mama! p.s. I need to try out that moon! – looks so cool!
Thank you so much Stanna!
We have a similar nightlight that lasts for 10 minutes. My son used to get so upset when it shut off, but lately it hasn’t bothered him. There is hope!! 🙂
That’s so funny! I love your writing style. I need to stick my boys together but I’m scared. If I do, you’ll be hearing from me!
My twins are almost a year and are super great sleepers for naps and bedtime but I know times like this are in our future! I love the links right to the products! Thanks!
routine really is everything! we have a pretty good nap/bedtime routine down now, so it’s gotten easier