The Boys Have Waged A Sleep War: How We're Fighting Back

This is how our nights have been going for the last two months:

7:55 pm: Warn W we're getting close to jammy time.

8:00 pm: Announce jammy time.

8:02 pm: Announce jammy time again.

8:05 pm: Announce jammy time and threaten to take away a book (he gets three before bed).

8:06 pm: Count: 1...... Do you want 3 books?....2.....OK, we're down to 2 books......3.....

8:10 pm: Matt gets W ready for bed while I feed B.

8:15 pm: W comes out to say, "Good night, Mom, good night. Good night, B, good night" in an adorable sing-song voice, which makes me much more inclined to let him hang out with me for a few minutes. Master Manipulator, right?

8:20 pm: Matt comes out to find him. Carries him back to room and book negotiations begin.

8:40 pm: Matt walks out of the room. B is starting to fall asleep, but I can't put him in his room yet, because....

8:42 pm: W starts talking very loudly.

8:45 pm: W starts opening and closing his door.

8:50 pm: W starts calling for help.

8:55 pm: W either leaves his room to find us or starts full on screaming and crying, which usually wakes up B. Feeding starts again.

9:00 pm: Matt lays down with W, who demands an original story (usually about Thomas the Train).

9:30 pm: I put down B and sometimes switch places with Matt.

10:00 pm: W is finally asleep and parent in bed with him climbs out (after falling asleep, of course)

10:05 pm: B wakes up. Feeding continues.

10:30 pm: Put B back down.

11:00 pm: B wakes back up. Falls back asleep the instant he's held (this continues in 30 minute cycles until about 12:30 and then 2 hour cycles).

So, this means we get nothing done at night and bedtime is a two person job. I have actually cancelled plans because bedtime has become such a nightmare. And then our nanny watched the boys on Saturday night and W went right to sleep... Which made me realize he's playing us for fools. Very tired, unproductive fools.

Now we have a new strategy. Call it a reward system. Call it bribery. But, a couple nights in and it seems to be working:

W gets a sticker for every night he doesn't make one of us lay down with him. Once he gets 10 stickers, he gets to pick our a new car. It was hard to convince him at first. I explained the plan and he got quiet for a while. When it was time to get ready for bed, I explained it again. He thought about it and told me this (not even kidding): "I don't need to do this. I have a lot of toys and Santa is going to bring me alllll the toys I need."

But, you know that boy of ours... He can't say no to a toy, no matter how hard he tries. And I may have told him that I have a direct line to Santa and if he doesn't cooperate with this Santa may not be bringing him all the toys he's expecting.

Remember this post? I still stand by it. Those moments are precious, but I feel like I'm being played by a three year old. So, now that we have a plan for the W battle... I'm plotting my plans for B. Tonight I gave him acetaminophen before bed (in case this is a teething issue) and a bottle of formula. He's already woken up once. But, I have my fingers crossed.