The transition to adding so many people to our home in a short period of time, took a little long to acclimate to. Luckily the "good morning routine" has and still continues to go smoothly. It was the "good night" routine that was difficult for all of us: Little Guy, Munchkin, and me.
Most of it was Munchkin adjusting to a new routine and Little Guy getting used to sharing my attention. For me, it was balancing all the night time activities between the two kids with maintaining the house somehow. It was pretty hectic for a few weeks in my house with both kids adjusting.
It took a lot of tweaking and adjustment to get back to a "peaceful" night time routine. But I think I finally have it down (after 3 weeks of making changes).
Normally, my kids would have separate rooms. However, a friend is living with us for a few months and is in the spare room. Therefore, the boys have to share a room - which can be difficult since Little Guy's never shared a room and Munchkin is still a baby. For the first few weeks, Munchkin slept in my room while I worked on getting him to sleep through the night.
This was Little Guys' night time routine before Munchkin. Originally, I tried to keep this same schedule and then just add Munchkin's items within there.
Most of it was Munchkin adjusting to a new routine and Little Guy getting used to sharing my attention. For me, it was balancing all the night time activities between the two kids with maintaining the house somehow. It was pretty hectic for a few weeks in my house with both kids adjusting.
It took a lot of tweaking and adjustment to get back to a "peaceful" night time routine. But I think I finally have it down (after 3 weeks of making changes).
Normally, my kids would have separate rooms. However, a friend is living with us for a few months and is in the spare room. Therefore, the boys have to share a room - which can be difficult since Little Guy's never shared a room and Munchkin is still a baby. For the first few weeks, Munchkin slept in my room while I worked on getting him to sleep through the night.
This was Little Guys' night time routine before Munchkin. Originally, I tried to keep this same schedule and then just add Munchkin's items within there.
- 4:00 p.m. - Play Time / Floor Time
- 5:00 p.m. - I cook dinner / Little Guy watches a show or sits at table / Late Afternoon Nap
- 5:30 p.m. - Little Guy and I eat dinner / I clean up after I'm done / Baby Wear Munchkin
- 6:00 p.m. - Bath Time / Bath Time
- 6:15 p.m. - PJ's / Brush Teeth / Story Time / Last Bottle for Munchkin
- 6:30 p.m. - Cuddle Time, extra play time / Munchkin bed time
- 7:00 p.m. - Little Guy in bed
On paper -- it would fit together just fine. However, Munchkin had different ideas. He would become extremely fussy at about 4:45/5pm every single evening. He was hard to settle and wouldn't take a nap (even though he was tired). He would be fussy all evening until he was in bed. So I knew I needed to make a change. His screaming and fussiness was impacting all of us and our once "peaceful" night routine became extremely stressful!
I made change after change after change. Finally found a routine that has worked the best:
- 4:00 p.m. - Bath Time for the boys
- 4:45 p.m. - start Baby Wearing Munchkin/prep dinner for Little Guy. Note: he didn't like the Moby Wrap or the Onya. So I bought a new carrier, the Tula - which he seems to like. It's also really comfortable for me as well! Sometimes he'll nap in the carrier, sometimes he'll stay awake and fuss a bit. But he does better if I'm holding him. I need the hands-free, so the Tula has worked great.
- 5:00 p.m. - Dinner for Little Guy. I try to eat at this time as well. If Munchkin is too fussy, I will eat after the kids are put to sleep. I have also changed cleanup time to after the kids are asleep.
- 5:30 p.m. - Head Upstairs
- 5:45 p.m. - Last bottle for Munchkin / Little Guy plays
- 6:00 p.m. - Little Guy brushes teeth / Story time with the boys
- 6:15 p.m. - Put Munchkin down to sleep / Extra cuddle time with Little Guy. Munchkin will sleep until 2:30 or 4:00, drink a bottle and go back to sleep until 6:15-ish.
- 6:30/6:45 p.m. - Put Little Guy down to sleep. He's been doing better if he goes down earlier and he'll sleep until about 5:45/6am.
So far, this has worked the best. It's not fail-safe, of course! But right now it's working well! It's now a "peaceful" time again :)
When Munchkin started sleeping for at least 8 hours at night, I moved him in Little Guy's room. I was surprised that it has gone so well!
First night sharing a room, Little Guy would reach through the crib and pat Munchkin saying, "it's ok". He also would sing to him. Very cute.
Now, since Munchkin is asleep by the time Little Guy goes in the room to sleep - Little Guy goes right to sleep and Munchkin doesn't wake up. I was also concerned that Munchkin would wake up Little Guy at the early AM feeding time. But nope, Little Guy stays asleep and doesn't wake up at all.
Things are finally running smoothly in the Family C household, thank goodness! Took a little longer than I expected, but with all the changes going on in our house - I guess it was not surprising it took us so long to adjust.
I'm really enjoying Munchkin. He's such a happy baby boy. He wakes up happy and is happy most of the day. He does need to be carried a lot, but I'm hoping that as he adjusts to living here that he'll be more comfortable not being held as much. For now, the Tula is my go-to carrier.
When Munchkin started sleeping for at least 8 hours at night, I moved him in Little Guy's room. I was surprised that it has gone so well!
First night sharing a room, Little Guy would reach through the crib and pat Munchkin saying, "it's ok". He also would sing to him. Very cute.
Now, since Munchkin is asleep by the time Little Guy goes in the room to sleep - Little Guy goes right to sleep and Munchkin doesn't wake up. I was also concerned that Munchkin would wake up Little Guy at the early AM feeding time. But nope, Little Guy stays asleep and doesn't wake up at all.
Things are finally running smoothly in the Family C household, thank goodness! Took a little longer than I expected, but with all the changes going on in our house - I guess it was not surprising it took us so long to adjust.
I'm really enjoying Munchkin. He's such a happy baby boy. He wakes up happy and is happy most of the day. He does need to be carried a lot, but I'm hoping that as he adjusts to living here that he'll be more comfortable not being held as much. For now, the Tula is my go-to carrier.
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