Sunday 4 March 2012

It's out of control!

This house is chaos. Bedtime is the worst aspect. Neither of the boys will settle without either me or Tim sat with them. Noah is 3 1/2, and until aged 2 he self settled, he never slept through, still doesn't! But at least once he was in bed, we were free to leave the room.

Benjamin, well, he's only 9 1/2 months old, so I can cut him some slack. We co-sleep after his first nighttime waking for a feed. I love sharing the bed with him. It makes breastfeeding so much easier, but as he can roll at will and this is his main mode of transport right now, when I am not able to sit with him while he sleeps, him being alone in the bed isn't a safe option. We don't have any money to go buy bed guards. So this week, I need to teach him to settle himself in his cot. He hates doing this!

The days lack a "routine" too. Well we eat lunch roughly the same time each day, followed by a nap, but that's it. When Noah was young I had a strict routine, his feed times were the same each day, his naps, his bedtime routine was very strict and neither myself nor Tim deviated from it. I'm sure that helped him settle at night. So this week, I'm getting all Gina Ford on them! I think a solid routine will help a lot. Noah needs boundaries. Ive never been a Gina Ford fan as it seems very rigid, and I couldn't guarantee that at 801am I will be eating toast and drinking tea as she suggests!

But, my "go with the flow" method that I seemed to have fallen into Isn't working. (during pregnancy when I had the depression, I got very lazy, in a huge rut, and tbh, I'm finding it hard to break out of this rut and get my inspiration and motivation back). Noah responds best to a routine, his behaviour needs pulling in to line, his sleep definitely does.

So my plan is to make a visual routine chart with Noah. We will take pictures tomorrow of all the things we need to do in a day, I will get my teacher head on, laminate and attach Velcro so that the chart can be changed as required. my hope is involving Noah in the process will give him some ownership and a bit of control.

When he goes to pre-school on Wednesday and Thursday, I will be sleep training Benjamin. Unfortunately I am working Tuesday morning so I cannot start on Tuesday. I need to block out this week and get it done.

I need to include more outings, more one on one time with Noah, so if I can extend Benjamin's naps we can have some quality time together to craft or play and do whatever it is Noah wants to do.

I NEED to do this. I need to regain control over this house, I need to regain control of my sanity and mostly I need to make my relationship with my eldest child positive again, as lately it's been spiralling in to a negative place.

How do you structure your routine?

Any tips please?

1 comment:

  1. This is a good day Aly - and by no means are all days good. . .

    7-.7.30, both girls up and have milk in bed with me. Sometimes baby will already be in with me as if she wakes after 5am ish and won't settle I bring her in for cuddles/sleep.
    8.00 Up, breakfast for Leila and me
    8.15 - Dressed, teeth, hair etc.
    8.30 Tidy a bit
    8.45 - nap for Lottie - either in cot or in buggy if we're going out. We often head out at that time to playgroup, pre school, soft play etc.
    10.00 - Lottie awake.
    11.00 Lottie feed
    12.00 Lottie nap - Leila and me have lunch then will either so stuff like playing/jigsaws/painting or if she's tired she will nap/chill watching DVD.
    2.00 Lottie awake
    3.00 Lottie feed
    At this time I either try to go out for a walk with them or do something together like singing, playing with baby toys etc as I fin this time of day drags a lot.
    4-.4.30 - short nap for Lottie if she needs it
    5.00 Dinner for Leila (and will be for Lottie when she's weaned)
    5.30 Nappy off time
    5.45 Bath for both.
    6.15 Milk for both (and snack for Leila)
    6.30-7.00 Bed for Lottie (she self settles in cot)
    7.00-7.30 Bed for Leila - gets read a story then left

    That sounds perfect and it isn't at all but it's what I aim for and stick to mostly xx

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Thanks for stopping by

Aly