Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I'm going to count to three...

I do a lot of counting these days.
I especially count while I'm trying to bounce a baby to sleep.
I find myself thinking (about ten times a day) "If he hasn't stopped crying by the time I count to 50, I'm going to lie him down to cry for a few minutes in his bed."


or "He's stopped crying (it's a miracle!) I'm going to hold him until I count to 30 before I try to lie him down."

Then I stand there (usually in our bathroom - it's my go-to place to put the boys to sleep, since it's quiet and dark) thinking "1 (bounce, bounce) 2 (bounce, bounce) 3 (bounce, bounce)..."


I've also started to tell time by counting, as well. For example, if I sing Edelweiss twice through and then count to 100, it's almost exactly 5 minutes.
So sometimes when I'm holding a boy I think "I'm sick of trying to physically restrain you while you head butt me and bicycle kick me at the same time, so I'm going to give you five minutes to go to sleep in my arms and then you're on your own."
And I sing Edelweiss twice, and then count to 100.....

Sometimes I try to count in Spanish or French to distract myself further from the fact that I've been in the bathroom bouncing one baby then the other for 35 minutes, but I usually can barely get to twenty before it morphs into some unknown language.
And I'm going "Benty-un, uhh Benty-two, Benty-tresss"
Ah well, so languages aren't my strong suit.

Anyway. What do you do to keep from losing your mind while you're trying to put babies to bed?
Or are you one of those super-moms whose babies have been trained to just conk out at the mere sight of a bed?

(And speaking of beds, yesterday Micah rolled off our bed. I was completely hysterical. I called 911. But then, once the lady was on the phone, I was like "Actually, I probably don't need paramedics, since my baby's not bleeding or vomiting excessively. So never mind."
Within five minutes Micah was laughing and smiling and cuddling, and I just kept sobbing. It was horrible.
But apparently only for me. Not for him. He was like, "No biggie, Mom.")

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8 comments:

Becky said...

Ahhhhh... I remember the first time my baby rolled off the bed. She hit the night table on the way down and had a cut on her head. I cried for a very long time. But, babies are tough. It is difficult to break them.

Sarah said...

My babies fall asleep in their swings. I usually let them jump their hearts out in the exersaucer/jumparoo, give them a bottle, rock them for a few minutes and put them in the swing. Now, with that being said, they have almost outgrown the swings so I'm sure I will soon find myself singing Edelweiss in my bathroom and cursing those swings! Also, Kai fell from a booster seat off the dining room table the other day. I seriously was standing right there and I have no idea how it happened. I FREAKED, he barely cried, so I FREAKED some more because I thought he wasn't crying enough! Within five minutes he was fine and I puked. So it's completly normal (OR we're both neurotic)hehehe

Sarah @ kinda like the bradys

Unknown said...

I started putting my girls down awake about 2 months ago (they are 9 mo old now). They will fuss a little bit and then go to sleep. If they get too hysterical or just cry for longer than a few mins, I usually go in and comfort and go back out and that is generally enough for them to go to sleep. It was just getting to be too much for me to handle rocking them for 20mins each, then laying them down, they wake up, cry and the rocking starts over. I have a 2yr old as well so it just wasn't working. This is so much better and they are sleeping much better now too!

As for falling off the bed- yep. it happens. And yep, its harder on us than it is on them. :)

Molly S said...

I kinda feel like you're not a real mom until a baby rolls off the bed.

I remember that Todd had been napping with our little one when he was about 4 or 5 months old. He got up and stuffed a bunch of pillows around him and came into the kitchen. He wasn't due to wake up for a long time, so it was safe - especially with the pillow barricade. Then we heard the thump. Bad news, man. I cried. Todd cried (not really, but he was upset). Little man was completely okay.

So just look at it like you've joined the club.

Anonymous said...

For the most part, my daughter has been an easy baby to put to bed. But that doesn't mean we haven't had our nap/bed time battles. I can only imagine how hard it is with two. So I had no advice, but I do have lots of mommah hugs to give you! I really hope it'll get better for you guys, soon.

PS: My daughter fell off the bed this past Halloween. I felt horrible. But I think that happens to most babies at least once.

Meagan @ Meagan Tells All said...

I'm one of the moms that started sleep training pretty early on and now my almost 2 year old has been sleeping perfectly during the night and nap time since about....5/6 months old?

I also have had the opportunity to watch a couple kids during the day to make some money. One family, agreed with me, that crying it out is the best method. She takes 2 solid 2 hour naps and takes probably 5 minutes tops to settle down and fall asleep. The other family, said they were okay with it, but every time she went home to their house and on the weekends, they would change their minds and back to Monday morning with using their MANY sleep tactics, that NEVEr worked. Needless to say, I'm not watching #2 family's kid anymore because they were SO wishy washy with their sleep training plans.

Ok, I tell you this. Sleep training is HARD. And once you master the first phase, they grow again and need to be "reminded" how to fall asleep on their own. I feel So bad that you are spending SO much of your time getting those boys to sleep. They are getting older and much more aware that if they aren't asleep in X number of minutes, that you'll be there, scoop them up, and then the whole charade starts all over again.

I'm not sure what method or IF you want to start sleep training. All I have to say about it is, YOU and your husband will benefit ALONG with your kids being able to sleep great at naps and during the night. Which means, a happier mommy, daddy, and kids.

It is hard writing this to you because you don't know me so it is hard probably to take advice from a stranger. And I'm no pro at this parenting thing AT ALL, but I guess what I've learned is that my daughter learned pretty quick that when she was put in her crib for naps and bed, it was nap or bedtime and no games were played. It sucks those first few days letting them cry it out, but pretty sure your boys will be sharing rooms for awhile, so they probably need to learn to sleep while listening to their brother cry right? I dunno...okay, I'm going to stop :-)

sienna said...

I feel like I've spent most of the last two years of my life rocking a baby to sleep. Even now, we spend a lot of time laying in bed with Bo until he falls asleep. I try try try to just enjoy the time and think about how he isn't going to be a baby forever, but that doesn't always work. Other times I'm just bored and tired. I think it's just part of motherhood. Sorry, that's probably not very reassuring, but sometime I think the hardest part for me was feeling like this should be something that it's not. For example, feeling he should sleep better than he did. I felt better when I would just tell myself that some babies don't sleep and that's okay. Motherhood takes time and energy and is sometimes hard and boring, but that's ok. It's worth it.

John,Tori, Alison, Aaron, And Maggie said...

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