It's Finally Here!

I've been waiting an entire week for this book to become available at the library.

Someone had it on hold. Someone who obviously was not in as dire need of the information contained inside as I have been this last grueling week waiting for it! Granted I'm happy they never showed up to pick up the book they placed on hold, because then I'd have to wait three more weeks to get it, but still. Don't put books full of potentially life-changing information on hold for yourself unless you are actually serious about reading it!

I'll calm down now, because the book is now in my possession, and I'm sure that maintaining a calm atmosphere in the home is going to be one of the suggestions in "The No Cry Sleep Solution: for toddlers and preschoolers."

So here's my problem: Both Owen and Jonas are put in bed at 8pm after a bedtime routine while they are still awake and they put themselves to sleep. Sounds good so far right?

Problem #1 Jonas has started throwing fits when I begin singing to him as he knows that is the last step in his bedtime routine.

Problem #2 Jonas wakes up in the night crying and won't put himself back to sleep.

Problem #3 As of the last week we've started bringing Jonas to bed with us in the middle of the night which we haven't done since he was 6 months old.

Problem #4 Owen puts himself to sleep approximately one to two hours after 8pm spending the time in between playing Geotracks or building himself Lego towers that are going to "sing to him while he sleeps." (I'm serious.)

Problem #5. Owen sneaks into bed with us in the middle of the night.

We have a new baby coming in approximately 9 weeks and we all know how wonderfully new babies sleep. So the point is I'd like to get some of these sleep issues with the other boys resolved before the baby comes.

The biggest problem is everyone in our bed. We don't have a problem with co-sleeping except that we only have a double and not everyone is going to fit! Since Jonas has been out of our bed since six months I see no reason to bring him back now. Owen has been in bed with us off and on his entire life, but I think he's getting old enough to be able to sleep consistently on his own, and I really don't want him sneaking into our bed if the baby is in bed with us.

Solutions? We've already talked about going back to the 7:00 bedtime routine we were in before Christmas. Jonas did well with that, and if Owen is going to stay up playing toys, at least it will only be 'till 8 or 9, not 9 or 10. Also in our favor, we've had a pretty consistent wake-up schedule since January when Owen started preschool and we switched to "early" church. Hopefully the rest of the solutions we need will be contained within this book.

Now if you'll excuse me--I have some reading to do.