13 September 2011

Twin Mom Terror Words

There are two words that strike fear into the hearts of twin mom's everywhere.   Mom's of singles don't even flinch at these words.  In fact, I've often heard them say "It was so easy!"  Right....

Honestly, I'm scared to type them for fear of running of my fellow twin mom followers :-p

But I'll do it... only because I know you'll need me to an example for you.

Hold your breath... here I go:

Toddler Beds. (or big kid beds of any kind).

Sweet mom's of singles, I've heard your stories of how your

"toddler didn't even know they could climb out."
"Didn't phase them at all."
"Had a couple rough nights and naps, but after that she/he understood that bedtime was bedtime."

Oh, but I've never heard anything like that from a twin mom.   No, my twin mom friends who are ahead of me said stuff like:

"Toddler beds are worse than potty training!!!"
"I've had to sit in there for 3 hours not talking to them and just putting them back in bed."
"We took everything out of their room except their beds, and reversed the door knob to lock them in.  It still takes them 2 hours to fall asleep."
"Melissa, do everything you can to avoid that transition.  Buy crib tents.  Duct tape their legs together.  Wait until they're four!"

No, lie... I've heard all of that.

So a long time ago, I resolved that my girls would be in their cribs until they were three and longer if they were content.

Almost three weeks ago Aeralind learned to climb out.

She wasn't even two yet!  It's not a fall... it's a controlled rock climbing excursion that I can hardly even hear from downstairs right below her.


The same day she mastered the art of door knobs.

Crib tents are out of my budget.  Bronwyn isn't climbing out or even close (surprisingly) so why should I put them both in toddler beds?   To top it off... Aeralind can't climb back in once she's out.

Did I mention I'm expecting a baby in about 6 weeks and there is no way that I'm going to be fighting her to stay in bed for 30+ minutes at nap time, when I'm going to want that nap myself?!

The first night of her new found skills, she threw all of her bedding in her sister's crib and then ran into the nursery where we had stashed a peck of apples and proceeded to take one bite out of 7 different apples.  Daddy caught her (I was out) returning an apple to a squealing Bronwyn.

The next night she received discipline for each climbing out.  She didn't dare climb out at the beginning of naps, but if I waited too long to get her up from a nap she'd climb out and party/torture sleeping sister.

By week two, things were looking good.  We thought we had won the war.

We were wrong: we'd just won battle number one.  Poor Aeralind comes climbing down the stairs at 9pm one night nearly in tears because she's so tired and embarrassed and can't get herself back in bed.  The next night she stood outside her door until daddy saw her and mumbled ashamedly "Daddy, ca ca (poop)."  He changed her and put her back down.

Bright and early (7am!) on her birthday morning, we hear her door open, and watch as she gleefully pulls the stool out from under our bed and climbs up to join us.

Um,....this is not okay (even if it is so stinking adorable!).

Suddenly, I remembered a conversation with Julia during her visit, that went something like this:
"Brad asked me when were were going to stop putting the girls in sleep sacks and I said 'Never!'  I don't want them climbing out of their cribs."  The next moment one of our girls flew by doing something crazy and the conversation ended.

I could make a sleep sack.  We could give that a try.  Aeralind can't climb out if she can't put her leg next to her ear and pull up on it... right?
Momma! I can't believe you're doing this to me!

So for her birthday... she got a cute purple straight jacket sleep sack (Bronwyn did too).
I guess I'll just go to sleep.  Sigh.

It looks like the tide of the war might be turning in my favor....

for now.

7 comments:

Julia said...

Awesome! Just awesome! I hope this keeps Aeralind snug in her bed for a bit longer :)

Anonymous said...

I love to read your blog! (although not an official follower)This post struck me too. I also have twin girls that just turned two in Aug. A couple weeks before their birthday one of them climbed out at nap time and I knew that it was time to get out the toddler beds. We did that night. I will say that the first few weeks I sat in there and patted them and waited till they got to sleep. Took about an 30-60 minutes each night. They did know that it was bedtime but just calming down and getting to sleep took time. But I was also so very frustrated, loosing my sanity and still had alot of other things to do before my bedtime. About two weeks ago, I found tough love, just like when they were in their cribs. We also have a door knob childproof cover, I am a cry it out mom, as long as they are physically ok. We did the nightly ritual and left the room. They only cried 15 min the first night and now they dont cry at all.

I guess what I am trying to say is, with mine it wasnt as hard as I was making it out to be. Evey child is different but take heart, I am a twin mom that doesnt dread bedtime anymore with toddler beds and two two year olds.

I do hope the sleep sacks work for you!

PS. I dread potty training! :)
Wendy

Jessica said...

YEAH!!! You go Momma!

Melissa Ann said...

Wendy, if I weren't expecting number 3... I think I might surrender to the toddler beds... but I want to know that I'll have 2 hours of sleep each day until Christmas. And Jessica taught me that it's probably best to skip toddler beds and go straight to big girl beds. Hubby and I are going to build our girls 3 foot or so high lofts (and extend the legs when they're older) with Christmas money... so it seems I might just have bought time until late January when we can complete everything.

Potty training doesn't scare me. We tried this summer for a couple days... and I learned to temper it with their personalities. I will potty train Aeralind first: she has the necessary motivation. I will wait until strong-willed Bronwyn decides she's ready and I'm pretty sure she'll just wake up and decide she's potty trained.

Valerie said...

Sleep Sacks! What a great idea for you. I'm so glad it worked. Your post struck me too.. we had our boys sleep on a mattress for 4 days while on vacation (couldn't bring pack n plays) and it was was torture waiting and patting backs for almost an hour until they fell asleep. Let us know how it goes!

A. R. Campbell said...

You got me! I thought you were going to say "potty training." The straight jacket...um, I mean, "sleep sack" is adorable and such a great idea! I hope it continues to work out for you!

CW said...

"Melissa, do everything you can to avoid that transition. Buy crib tents. Duct tape their legs together. Wait until they're four!"
LOL!!! This made me laughed so hard! I am so glad you have figured out a way to prevent her from climbing out! Shiloh/Kayla just doesn't have the self-control yet to be sleeping in toddler's beds, they will kill themselves without adult supervision. I will keep them in their cribs as long as possible ;)