Sleep Routine + 17 Month Bed Time Favorites

Sleep has been a sensitive subject for all of about 17 months.  

Ok. Maybe I overstepped.  Truthfully, I'd say it was a tough go up until about 15 months. 

I was blessed with the gift of sleep from my newbie bebes when they were 2 months old.  Fast forward through to month 4, when we were in the thick of physical therapy to treat Jolie's torticollis and it was an all night scream fest. 

{Read more about Jolie's torticollis journey HERE}

Parker slept through it all.  The screams and the scuffle and bustle around her crib as we comforted and soothed and uncomfortable Jolie.  She was my 'rockstar sleeper'.  

Until we reached month 6.  

Month 6 of life for the twins meant major milestones for Jolie and her tort, as well as the start of growth spurts and teething for both.  The latter also meant that Parker, my once rockstar sleeper, would be awake at all hours, and Jolie quickly resorted back to sleeping through the night.  Parker, of course, had stints of sleep- a few weeks of sleeping through the night, and then we would regress to being awake 3-4 times, just to find help for reaching a paci, or a simple rub and kiss of her forehead.  

I finally came to a breaking point of refusing to pick her up when she fussed at 1am (and 3am, 4am, 5:30am), and as much as that sounds terrible, if she knew I was willing to pick her up, I was also willing to hold her all night if it meant she would sleep.  After a week of sleeping in the rocking chair, I learned very quickly I couldn't make the mistake of picking her up when a simple sound of my voice and a gentle rub of her cheek would do the trick to soothe her back to sleep.  

I still stand by this rule with that little girl to this very day..

Yesterday Parker was rocked to sleep at nap time by her BB.  She fought me for an hour before going to sleep for the night.  She wanted and expected to be rocked, just as she was for nap earlier that day.  It would be one thing if I rocked her for every sleep time, but I don't, and I never have.  They go down sleepy, and fall asleep without a peep 99% of the time. 

Around 14 months, something clicked for Parker and she found slumber through the night more often than not.  At 15 months, if she woke during the night, she found no reason to need mom, and would soother herself back to sleep.  

Finally. 

Naps are a different story- we have always been pretty good nappers.  Around month 4 we finally figured out how to get them on a regular schedule of three (sometimes a fourth late in the afternoon) naps during the day. Before that time we were still following the Eat-Play-Sleep routine.  At the point of actually putting them on the nap schedule, I found that 'Play' was getting longer and longer between "Sleep" periods. 

We transitioned to just two naps a day when they were 6 months old.  We dropped the late afternoon nap and moved their bed time from 9pm to 7pm.  There were suggestions of doing the 15 minute increments over the course of a week or two.. but I was impatient.  I basically went 'cold turkey' on the girls and they did perfectly fine.

Moving to just one nap a day was even easier than 3 to 2 naps.  The girls did it on their own, really.  When daylight savings hit, they were sleeping in until 9-9:30am.  At that time the girls' first nap was around 10am.  We started to push their naps to 11:30a, which meant their 3pm nap was nonexistent.  

And here we are.

Eat/Sleep Schedule at 17 Months:

Wake @ 8:30am

Side Note: the girls almost always wake up before 8:30am.  They prefer to lay awake in their crib, chatter back and forth, and sometimes fall back asleep.  It usually rounds out to being about an hour before I go in the nursery to get them up for the day. 

Breakfast @ 8:45am-9am

Lunch @ 11:45am-12pm

Nap @ 12:30pm-3pm (sometimes shorter & sometimes longer)

Snack @ 2:30pm-3pm

Dinner @ 6pm

Bed @ 7:30pm (occasionally this is moved to 7pm if they missed or didn't sleep well at nap time.)

I wanted to share a few of our favorites for bedtime- most of which have been favorites from day one, but these really have been the most consistent in our routine for nap and bedtime.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 

1. Cotton PJs by BabyGap.  Good quality bed time attire is essential, if you ask me.  We spend a lot of time in our PJs - sometimes all. day. long.  I have a hard time justifying spending $45 on two outfits for Parker and Jolie, but when it comes to jammies, apparently, I don't even blink an eye.  I do confess to shopping sale items or with a coupon code 100% of the time.  So there.  Justified.  Even with the heat of the summer upon us, I am still buying the long sleeve and pant pajamas- and Gap is the only place I can find them in Texas.  The short sets are on my list, too.. because when its 90 degrees at midnight, we can all stand to give the shorts a break.  The girls often grow out of these Gap jams before they 'wear out'.  Justified again.  holla.

2. HALO Sleepsack. We went from swaddle blankets to sleep sacks and have yet to even think about transitioning out of them.  We actually forgot them when we were at the grandparents over the weekend, and the girls lasted all but an hour before they woke up in confusion.  No need to transition out at this point. No blankets in their crib are needed if they are wearing it!  Parker and Jolie weigh about 22 pounds and fit perfectly in a medium HALO SleepSac. 

3. Monkey Wubby (and Paci).  I've intro'd this little guy on more than one occasion, so no need to repeat myself here.  Parker doesn't go anywhere without the wubby and paci- that will be a nightmare to break (Jordan is already asking when, when, when..) BUT I gave myself a pat on the back at 12 months when we moved to only allowing wubby and paci at nap and bedtime.  That is still a daily struggle, and we've resorted to hiding the things in the pantry..laundry room, under blankets..cabinets.. she's a smart cookie.  

4. Puppy.  The lost triplet.  Puppy goes everywhere since the day we introduced him to Miss Jolie on my birthday last year.  She sleeps with that oversized stuffed dog over her face every night, as if to block out the sound/light and make it as dark as possible.  I am jealous of how peaceful Jolie seems when she sleeps.  Perhaps its puppy.  Puppy is also only allowed (for the most part) during nap and bedtime.  He is also hidden.. but the moment Parker finds her wub and paci, she also finds puppy and happily trots her way over to Jolie to hand him over. SMH.

5. Sound Machine. We officially use two sound machines in their room at nap and bed time. and a fan.  Jolie makes the smallest peep and Parker hops up to her feet as if she was never asleep at all.  This particular sound machine is the one we travel with and is by far my favorite.  Very loud and offers a variety of 'sounds'- but we stick to the 'Ocean' option.  Affordable and haven't had a single issue in the 17 months we've been using it.

What about you, mommas?  Special bedtime routines?  

Suggestions on transitioning away from the paci?? I am not looking forward to that day.

Or the nights that go along with it.