Schedules

This is one are of parenting that I royally SUCK at.  I am so inconsistent with schedules most days.  I mean, we have our basic routine (get up, get breakfast, get dressed, etc), but the times are almost never the same.  Most days, I wish they were!! It would make life so much easier!

Sometimes I think I should start waking up the kids at a certain hour instead of letting them naturally wake, so they will start the day at the same time.  And then the "I'm a sleepy mommy who wants a little more sleep" kicks in, so I don't.  Some days the girls don't get breakfast until nearly 10am.  Other days it's 8am.  Same for lunch.  Today it was 1:30 until I remembered to make lunch!!!  Dinner's pretty consistently between 5-6pm, since we've been eating together as a family, but if we eat with Brian's family, sometimes that schedule is even way off.

Then there's naps. Oy!  Sophie hasn't napped in 2 years aside from the stray illness or car ride related nap.  Maddy typically takes 1 nap a day in the afternoon from 1-3 hours.  I've been trying my best to get her in her crib for quiet time by 2pm, but lately she's been resisting me hardcore.  Today she didn't even nap at all, though she certainly needed it--what a grouch!  Noah has been taking 2 or 3 naps a day, but the times are not consistent at all yet & neither is the length.  Just that he naps in our bed, surrounded by pillows and stuff to keep him from rolling off the bed.

And finally, our WORST area: bedtime.  I'd LOVE to have the girls in bed asleep by say 8:30 or 9pm & Noah soon after.  How do I do it?!?!  HELP!  Maddy has been standing in her crib screaming for me & wants to stay up when I put her to bed at 8 or 8:30.  Any earlier, and it's even MORE of a battle.  If it's after 9, she's typically easier to put down since she's exhausted (but then we get super cranky Maddy for an extra hour. ugh!).  Sophie goes to sleep by 9, but won't stay asleep.  She fights it, makes up stories about "Maddy's keeping me awake" (when Maddy's been out cold), finds things to do to stay up or lately, she's been sleep walking/talking.  She'll cry & when we go in to the girls room, she's sitting in her bed and makes no sense when you ask her a question.  Typically you just tell her to lay down and go back to sleep & she'll go back down, but man is it annoying & frustrating if she wakes up Maddy during one of her crying fits.  It's always such a battle with the girls--doesn't matter which parent puts the girls to bed either.  And we don't have an elaborate bedtime routine for that reason either.  Ugh!

Noah doesn't have a set bedtime at all.  He's typically "down for the night" by midnight, but it depends on if he makes "bed" at 9:30-10pm into a nap or actual bed.  He wakes up 2-3x a night (which I don't mind typically), and sleep until late morning sometime. I want to move his bedtime earlier, so he wakes for the day earlier & the kids are all generally on a similar schedule.  I just don't know how to do that.

How do you make a baby go to sleep?  Maddy was our only schedule kid (thanks NICU for that), since I typically just read baby's signs & cues for hunger or sleep.  Turn off the lights & cuddle them asleep?  I REFUSE to ever do "cry it out" methods since to me it just feels like a socially acceptable form of child abuse.  (again, my opinion. if that's what you choose for your children, so be it.).  We'll be cosleeping with Noah until we move into our new house, since there's no room for a crib in our bedroom, the bassinet is now too small for Noah (and cluttered as it's a great junk collector! lol!), and there's just no other place to put him.  Besides, I am still loving cosleeping.  I don't think Brian is, as he keeps asking me how long Noah's going to sleep with us, but maybe it will be an encouragement to find a job & move out. haha.

I guess I just wish I had things figured out & consistent rather than it seems like I just fly by the seat of my pants every single day.  Writing it out just now helped me see our pattern a bit better, so that's good. But gaining control again would be excellent.

So there ya have it.  My biggest parenting weakness. If you have any helpful hints or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.