How long does it take to get back on track?

This is my first post in this 2-4 forum, since my boys turned 2 on Friday! Thanks in advance for your responses!

My boys have been having a rough time getting back into the swing of things after a week of chaos. First off, DH & I went away for the weekend last weekend (our 1st weekend away!) & then as soon as we got home on Sunday, DH took off for a week out of town. Because I still had to work, my mom stayed with us until Tuesday & then my inlaws stayed until Thursday. The boys attended their usual 2 days of daycare, but in a span of 7 days, DH or I only put them to bed ONCE (I work night shifts). They're used to one or the other putting them to bed every night, since we rarely get sitters. And then, to top it off, yesterday was their birthday party...a houseful of people, junkfood that they never get, & all that overstimulation when they were already overtired.

During the day, when they were with their grandparents, they were pretty much on their normal routine...similar time lines for mealtimes/naptimes/etc. They even had a list of the steps of their bedtime routine (since they gave our last babysitter a hard time for skipping steps, we wrote them all out). My inlaws had a hard time following their routine (that's a whole other post in itself) but my mom did good. However, the boys were getting put down for sleep late, getting up early from naps/in the morning, & getting overtired.

For the past few days, the boys are having a hard time. Conner is super whiney & clingy, along with super defiant (he's being SO naughty). Aiden is just a mess. He cries all the time. Neither of my kids put up a fuss at naptime/bedtime & Aiden has been screaming even BEFORE he's laid down, just because he knows it's coming. It's horrible. I tried snuggling with him, rocking him, laying with him, etc. but that's seeming to make it worse. Today, I left him cry at nap & he only cried for 10 mins, but yesterday it was 25 mins before my mom went in & told him to go sleep .

So, is this the start of the terrible 2s? Or is it from being 'out of whack'? How long will it take til I get my sweet baby boys back? We are constantly telling them that Mommy & Daddy aren't going anywhere (or telling them where we're going if we are) to try to reassure them, but what else can I do to help them through this?

Thanks for reading through all that & for any advice you have for me!!!

 

When we would get out of whack around here, I would spend a couple of days being extremely strict with their schedule and spending a lot of quality time with them. I would make sure that anything that needed to be done and could wait (phone calls, dishes, laundry, picking up, etc.) waited until they were in bed. Of course it meant I would have to stay up late and be exhausted, but it was worth it to keep them back on track.

I did, on occasion, have to let the girls CIO again. It's heartbreaking but it was for the sanity of all of us!!

I also found that a few weeks before turning 2 my girls were extra cranky. I was afraid we were hitting the "terrible two's" but it was just another one of those passing phases.

 

Ditto what Michelle said. I have even been known to move up the bed time when they were so overly tired. It still throws off the routine, but, the get some extra sleep and it helps them through it. It should calm down to normal for a while though? If that is the case it should not take long as long as they get some sleep, see their normal schedules and you stick to the Norm for a while. Good luck. We have had a number of weekends that have been off lately and they get so tired (still) which makes Monday awful but we try to get them to bed early on Monday to get them back on track. It still takes a couple of days

 

I know we'll be dealing with this soon; we've had lots of out of town company this week & we've been going non stop every day. Trips to the river, swimming, bbq's, etc. The kids weren't getting to bed til 10pm, with no naps!! I'm dreading tomorrow.....

It can take up to a week for us to get back into our schedule when we've been thrown off. Usually the first couple of days are NO fun. But if I stick to it, eventually we all get back on track & feel much happier.

 

Andrea,
You haven't gone thru the terrible 2s yet?? WTHeck!??? You must have skipped it then cuz ours started at 17 months and is still going strong at 22 months!

Lucky dog!

I'm sure it's just a phase!

 

I would do like the PPer said, and be stricter than normal with the routine, but also lengthen sleep times. Maybe go down a bit earlier for naps and bedtime. It really shouldn't take more than a day or two, once they are back on normal rest.

 

Yes, getting back to basics always seems to help for us too. I spend a couple of days at home getting back into the swing of things and then I can address other behavioral issues too. GL! :hug: Welcome to 2-4!!

 

Thanks, Everyone!

Today has been a bit better. Their behavior is probably back to typical 2 yr old stuff (which still drives me insane). Aiden only cried for 5 mins at naptime, which is better than yesterday's 10. He also has been asleep 90 mins w/o a peep (knock on wood), whereas yesterday he woke up 3 times in 2 hrs. Conner didn't cry at bedtime last night & Aiden only cried 5 mins (side note funny: when I checked on them after Aiden settled, Conner was asleep with his blanket over his head! Poor kid was probably trying to drown out Aiden's screams!). We put them down for naps/bedtime early yesterday & I'll adjust bedtime tonight if they don't take good naps today (it's naptime now).

This definitely makes me re-think doing anything drastic like last week for a LONG time! We had plans to go to a water ski show last night but cancelled because it was during their normal 'bedtime unwind' & they would've gotten to bed late, too. I'm going to be a strict Mama this week! I'm also rethinking our 'questionable' FL trip this winter!

Thanks again...I was worried I'd never see the light at the end of the tunnel!