Anyone still rocking their babies to sleep?

Hey girls,
My twins are almost 3.5 years old and after a long spell of sickness and my husband switching up his routine to be home at bedtime most nights, my kids are back to being rocked before bed. I am conflicted on how to deal with it; we both love rocking them at bedtime. My problem comes in when my husband isn't here to help me out at bedtime. It's mayhem with both kid wanting me to snuggle or rock them. Should I just go cold-turkey and tell them no more snuggles and rocking at bedtime? Should I transition them back to our old routine - putting pj's on, having a snack, brushing teeth, tucked in bed, story read, g'nites? Bedtime is becoming an all night affair at our house and I am slowing going insane.

 

That was my problem.. dh loved 'laying' with the kids.. but when it was just me, bedtime would take forever. As nice as it is, they have to learn to go to sleep on their own. Do you know how non-stressful bedtime is for us now that we've stopped laying with the kids? Oh man!! THey are getting more sleep and so are we! arty:
It seriously sounds like you know what you need to do... the kids need their sleep and so does their mommy. Mommy/Daddy need some time together. After the kids go to bed, that is my unwind time. I need it.

 

I love snuggling with my two at bedtime. We rocked the boys until they were over two years old. One of mine had major issues about bedtime for over a year. I mean major. So rocking them to sleep was essential to a peaceful evening. Sometime after 2 we moved them both into the bedroom for our bedtime routine. Two books snuggling with us, lights out, two songs and they go to sleep while we snuggle. Some nights it takes a little longer for one to fall asleep but most nights it isn't much of an issue. My husband is not always home for bedtime so switching them to snuggle in the bedroom was important. I can manage both of them on the bed. They each have a side. When my husband is home he lays down with us as well but the boys usually want to snuggle with me. I would not trade that time with them in the evening for anything. But because it is a well established routine I don't spend that much time on it. Typically 20-30 minutes from the first story to when they are both asleep.

 

Adding on to what I was posting yesterday, our bedtime 'routine' with laying with the kids, often meant that for the 7:30 bedtime (school the next morning), the kids would FINALLY fall asleep around 9. Now they are asleep by 8 at the latest, unless something is up.

 

Could you go back to the old routine and start gradually cutting down the cuddle time? My son wants to cuddle every night at bed-time, but I only do it now for about 2 minutes. Sometime he asks me to stay longer, but I just tell him that cuddle time is over with and he needs to go to sleep.

 

If it works for you there is nothing crazy about it.
But since you have to be alone sometimes, it sounds like you are saying it's not going to work for you.
You didn't mention what kind of beds they are in to see if a snuggel in bed would work.
Also I don't know their personalities, emphasizing that a story and a kiss is what "big kids" do would work with some kids, but not all.

If it works for you there is nothing crazy about it.
But since you have to be alone sometimes, it sounds like you are saying it's not going to work for you.
You didn't mention what kind of beds they are in to see if a snuggel in bed would work.
Also I don't know their personalities, emphasizing that a story and a kiss is what "big kids" do would work with some kids, but not all.

 

I am on the wrong board here as my twins are only 21 months old but I couldn't resist answering.

Have you considered putting a comfy recliner (not reclined when we are rocking of course) in their room or where you rock and rocking them both at the same time? I many times am alone with my two when it is bedtime and it work WONDERS for us! Just a thought. We are all 3 comfortable in our recliner

 

We do the rest of our bedtime routine (brush teeth, watch about 15 min of calm TV while they snuggle in our bed, read stories) then go into their room. We sing a song to them and I have always held them both (or if dad is there he holds one and I hold the other) during the song. Once the song is done, I lay them down in bed, give them kisses, and say goodnight. I think the rocking is fine for a few minutes (maybe while you sing a song or two) but not to the point of sleep. I would go back to the old routine or a combination of the old routine and a little snuggling or rocking that is reasonable and gets them both in bed at the same time. I know that when mine are sick it takes about a week to get them back on schedule afterwards, so you may have some crying at bedtime, but they should adjust.

 

You could try what we do: We rock while singing one lullaby and then (usually) for 1-2 minutes after that, then hugs and put in bed. So they still get snuggles but you're not rocking them all the way to sleep.