Just When We Get It Right, Everything Changes

The triplets, being 9 months old now, are ready to make some natural changes to their schedule. I have been so anxious about changing their schedule, now that we've finally gotten used to it, that I have been putting it off for about a month now. The kids had been taking 3 naps, as young babies do, but during the last month or so they have been crying and screaming for 15-20 minutes just to sleep for 20 minutes when I put them down for their last nap. (I told you I'd been putting it off! LOL)

I was also hoping to drop their bottles down from 4 a day to 3 a day, as they'd still be getting 24 oz of formula but would a) do better at finishing all of the formula that's offered to them, b) start to eat more solids, which will be important as we approach their first birthday and eating more finger foods, and c) to alleviate an hour of my day spent feeding them their bottles. Because, those little shits, no matter how hard I try to teach them, or what kind of tricks I try to find to make it easier for them, they don't want to hold their own bottles. I was dreaming about that day since they were 2 months old and I'm still waiting for it... argh! In my opinion, I think the babies are not interested in holding their own bottles because they realize that it's snuggle with mommy time, so if they want to be held and snuggled, they had better soak it up at feeding time. How smart of them! And manipulative... LOL I just wish I'd have that extra time on my hands so I could do things with them besides snuggle. I'd love to have an extra 4 hours in my day to read books with them, or play blocks with them, or pack up and go shopping and not have to worry about stopping 3 times to warm bottles and cuddle and feed. ARGH!! But, as one of the moms on Triplet Connection pointed out, they might not be able to handle going down to only 3 bottles a day, and so I will wait to talk to the pediatrician about that one, and change as little of their schedule as possible for the time being.

So back to my original point... The time has come to consolidate naps. Which, while I have been dreading it, will probably work out better for me in the long run. The problem is that when you add in a toddler's own schedule, you are either busting your ass all day to keep everyone happy and on target, or now you have to figure out how to merge the two schedules to work for four kids. The triplets have set feeding times, four times a day, which I have to work around; that's hurdle #1. Hurdle #2 is that Gwen has not been napping lately, or napping sporadically at best, and I have been trying for 3 months to find a time/place/get-ready-routine that will help her go down and stay down. Otherwise she falls asleep in her high chair, booster seat, on the couch, etc. late in the afternoon because she still NEEDS that nap, even if she doesn't want to give in and take it. Not to mention that I have the old schedule down pat, and will have to be on the ball for the next few weeks until I memorize the new one. So that is where all my anxiety was coming from, LOL

Our old schedule went like this:

6A - Wake up trips, change diapers, start bottle feedings

6:30A - Tony gets up Gwen, changes her and gives her milk, while I finish the bottle feeding

7:30A - Trio goes down for a nap (about 1 hour); Gwen eats breakfast

8:30-9A - Trio wakes up, change diapers, breakfast-type solids for trips (about 7 oz, or 8 Stage 2-size jars to share); Gwen has snack

10A - Trio has bottles

11A - Nap time for everyone (Now this is where Gwen's naps get a little hairy - I have tried putting her down before and after lunch; giving her extra milk or a snack beforehand; anywhere between the hours of 10A and 2P and she seldom sleeps. It's driving me crazy...)

1P - Everyone wakes up, diaper changes, Gwen has lunch

2P - Babies have bottles

3P - Trio takes nap

3:30-4P - Trio wakes up, diaper changes

4P - Trips have dinner-type solids (about 7 oz, or 8 Stage 2-size jars to share); Gwen has snack

5:30P - Gwen has supper with the family

6P - Triplets have bottles; on most Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays Gwen gets a bath

7P - Bedtime

This is the new schedule I'm trying to implement. I will have to make amendments as I go and find some things that will work and other things that just won't fly for all the kids. So it's pretty tentative:

6A - Wake, change, feed bottles

7:30A - Trips have breakfast-type solids; Gwen has breakfast

8A - Trips take nap (my hope is that this will last 1 1/2 - 2 hours)

9A - Gwen has snack

10A - Wake trips, change, feed bottles

11A - Gwen takes nap (theoretically)

12P - Trips go down for nap (again, I'm hoping for 1 1/2 - 2 hours here, if not longer; I would push their bottles back if I needed to)

2P - Bottles for trips; lunch for Gwen

The rest is the same as before

Sounds great, right? Easier, even. Sounds like it should work, right? Well, in theory anyway. So I implemented this new schedule yesterday and was shocked at how well everyone did with it, despite only napping for half of the time they should have been, and no nap for G, and a lot of forgetting things and miscalculating time frames from me. The kids went down for their first nap and passed out, despite not acting cranky. However, they only slept for about an hour. The second nap was crazier, they only slept for about 45 minutes, maybe an hour. But again, they weren't cranky or little shits or anything! They ate the same amount of solids and drank all their bottles.

I was afraid to say anything positive about the new routine last night for fear of jinxing myself, but today wasn't horrible either. It was worse than yesterday but still tolerable. Oh wait; maybe that's the Lexapro, LOL! They slept the ENTIRE TWO HOURS this morning (except Gwen...), but only slept for 45 minutes again this afternoon. They did poorly with their breakfast solids, only eating about half of what they usually would, but did great with their dinner solids. They all drank all their bottles again except Nora at 6 PM when she only drank half. They were all cranky and super tired this afternoon though, but I think it's a good sign. It shows that they actually were tired from only getting a 45 minute noon nap so over the course of the next few weeks they should start feeling the need to compensate elsewhere, hence the 2+ hours scheduled for napping at noon. They need to get into the new rhythm too though so I'm trying to be patient. Again, thank you Lexapro!

More craziness today: I found both Holden and Nora on the stairs twice; they're like little ninjas. At one point I found Nora with her feet on the step second from the top of the staircase with her hands in the hallway, laughing at the cats. Another couple of gray hairs... We will be spending some time researching the proper swing-door gate so I don't kill myself, and my kids don't kill themselves. For right now we have a SuperYard XT half-doubled over on itself in a weird shape and extending into the unfinished side of the basement. It's so ghetto. Not to mention the fact that I have to struggle with it to move it and then still walk over into the unfinished side to get around the end of it. ARGH!

So, that's how the schedule shift is going. I will post more another day, after we've been at it a little while, to let you all know how it's going. For right now though, it's late as fuck and I am exhausted so I'm calling it quits.