Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Go to Sleep, You Little Baby

So, one of the biggest reasons I'm able to do all the things I do and stay sain(most of the time) is because our kids are great sleepers. Kids need lots of rest, but only after consistency and trial and error can you get them to do it on a regular basis!=)
We established that we liked the kids having an early bedtime when Olivia was a toddler. Scotty and I loved the quiet time alone after she was in bed in the evenings, so we have kept a pretty early bedtime for all the kids since that then. They all(with the exception of Ameila, my 4 week old) go to bed at the same time. We try to consistently keep that 7:30pm. Sometimes it ends up being slightly earlier, but sometimes it's a little later depending on what all we need to get done on a particular evening.
From the time the kids are born we train them to self soothe and put them to bed awake. Because of that we don't spend a lot of time trying to get the kids to go to sleep. We do the same routine each night which consists of: brushing teeth(and bath on bath nights), going potty, family worship time, praying, reading a chapter book, and singing a song or two. Once this is done we kiss those Little Smittles goodnight and we are on our way.
We know that Isaiah will go straight to sleep every night. The girls lay in their beds and talk to each other most of the time for a while before going to sleep. As long as they can stay quiet I don't mind them talking, but I want them to know it's resting time and that they need to be winding down. Their conversations are special to them and I can only imagine what all they talk about! They MUST stay in their beds once the lights are out unless they are going potty.
They get to choose two things to sleep with each night. Most of the time they have the same "friends" for a few weeks until they are ready to change out for something new. Addison and Isaiah still have special "lovies" and Isaiah still sucks a paci(mostly just at bedtime), so they get these things as well.
For both kids rooms we use a sound machine. These are a great tool with lots of children or a small house because it shuts out any noise that may keep your child from going to sleep. It will also keep them asleep. You may want to consider dark curtains or thick blinds or both to block out early morning bright sunshine. We have wood blinds, so this is enough for my kids, but some may need those eclipse curtains or black out sheets in the window.
Now, lets talk morning time. I know you might be wondering if my kids are up at the crack of dawn and the answer is no. Well, depending on when you think that is. If you like your mornings in bed until 9 then an early bedtime might not be for your family. For us, early evenings are best, so I have to be OK with early mornings. The girls have an alarm that goes off each morning at 7:30AM. They are usually already awake by then, but have already made their bed, gotten dressed for the day, and are playing quietly with their sleeping toys or reading a book. They didn't just start doing that, I had to train them(like any behavior you want out of your kids). When they come down at 7:30 I always try to be ready and able to start breakfast. If Isaiah isn't awake by 7:30 I will wake him up when breakfast is ready. Usually he wakes up right about the time the alarm goes off though.
Because we do the same wake up time every day the kids  are always ready for nap at about the same time every day. I can tell with the two little kids that they'd probably rather go to bed a little earlier, but for my sanity sake, we do everyone at the same time for nap too. We usually have lunch at 12:30 and nap at 1. The two little girls sleep in their beds, and Olivia gets her sleeping bag out in the playroom with a few good books to read. Olivia doesn't sleep very often any more, but the two little girls usually sleep about and hour and a half at least. Isaiah will usually sleep the full two hours until 3. Isaiah also still has a morning nap, but I'm thinking he won't be doing that much longer. That boy loves his sleep though!
Because Olivia has that resting/reading time on her own she isn't craving time alone while the other kids are awake. We had been running into that a lot and couldn't figure out how to best work that into our day. Life can be tough for the oldest in a larger family, and this special quiet time on her own is just the thing to give her that much needed SPACE! Any time Scotty is home he'll take a magazine or paper up there and read along with Olivia. She likes that a lot too.=) Because we've been working together on school all morning she's usually ready for a little break from ME too!
So, that's how we do sleep. We are still able to skip naps some days if our schedule demands it and there are some nights when we aren't home until late and the kids get to bed later, but overall I'd say the number one thing to remember is consistency! Your kids need to know that it's important for their little bodies to rest and you need to help them make the best of the time they have to do so.

Next up:
A day for everything
Freezer cooking
Monthly menu

What else do you want to know?=)

2 comments:

  1. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I made some mental notes for the future. :)

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  2. I agree completely with your post. This is almost exactly what we have done with Syd and Zach and they are still napping 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon.

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