June 2013: Here come the terrible twos!

[HungryHorace]

New thread. :-)

We had an amazing thunder storm last night. The thunder claps were so loud!

Pity that they woke us up though, DS woke about half an hr after it had rumbled past and was inconsolable unless right next to me. So poor DH was turfed out of bed and DS came in next to me. Don't think any of us got a great sleep but it was the option that gave the most zzzz last night!

Mrs81 replace DS with dog and you've described our night. Poor DH had to sleep with the dog who was barking and going crazy at the lightening.

Lil however slept through it all!

Hullo all - I'm a terrible lurker, always checking in and never contributing. Story of my life, I am that person at parties who stays in the corner only talking to people I know....

Anyway like mentioned by others I try not to gloat too much about Joe's sleeping because although we did work on it early in terms of him settling himself to sleep (which has been brilliant and successful and makes nap and bedtimes an easy breeze) the fact he stays asleep and still naps 2-3hrs every afternoon has sod all to do with me. I'm happy to take credit for HOW he goes to sleep but the rest is up to luck. Yay for luck!

I am in full admiration for those of you with two and more kids. Argh. Joe is both the cutest he's ever been at the same time as being as challenging as he has ever been. Add a new baby to that mix and I'm not sure how you do it.

Every time you ask if he wants something he goes 'oh please' and it's so cute I might cry except I'm a hard-hearted cow who didn't even cry at Beaches. But still, they are the best right now. I think you were all talking about counting earlier - we get two and eight and nine in the right order but nothing else. And some words I am sure he can say but just refuses to. He KNOWS the dog's name is Ludo but just will not say it. Refuses outright.

Otherwise same as you guys we are getting 4 word sentences, occasionally five. He has his 2yr check with the paeds at C&W Hospital in August so we get 1.5hrs of tests and assessments there which is always usually quite interesting, albeit I see it as a little exam, even though I know it's not. One of the upsides of his time in NICU. They invariably send us away with a big tick and a see you later.

Hope you're all enjoying the warm weather and not going too mad - I live for this time of year, it's the only time I don't get terribly homesick.

Oi sunbeam I've PM'd you about the Midlothian meet up!

I think poor DH had a tough day yesterday. It was his day with the small child while I went to work. Seems the small child is refusing to nap when it's a daddy day but is a grumbling mess without her nap. She's also a complete horror at bedtime for him. We had our 16 year old neighbour babysit for us last night who is brilliant.

DH said whilst he was glad the small child doesn't act up for the babysitter he was peed off that she only acts up for him.

Sunny, I haven't got the PM! Can you try again?

Balls - I've tried it twice this week. Will try FB

Darn - there are 3 Claires. I've added the one of you as a friend who appeared to have the Bass rock in the background of one of your photos. Unless one of you was on holiday in East Lothian I think my detective skills are spot on!

I think ds has decided cots are evil. This is the second night on the trot that he has fallen asleep initially in the cot but then woken endlessly after 2-3hrs.

This evening he is happy to lie on the sofa or on our bed, regardless of whether we are next to him or not...but howls blue murder the instant we move him back to his cot.

Tomorrow will include an expedition to get a bed guard to minimise falls when we try taking a cot side off!!

good luck with that mrs. we're still avoiding taking the side off for as long as possible. just can't face it!

Well he went to bed fine. He loved helping me take the side off (Ikea cot with an allan key for undoing fittings)

We couldn't find a bed guard that would fit the cot so DH made one out of a v v sturdy piece of card, mostly under the mattress and then up the side for c8 inches...wrapped in a fleece blanket and it's fine! Once DS goes into a bigger bed we can fit a proper rail so it only has to last a wee while.

After the disaster of DD in a single bed on holiday recently, I'm in Aloha's camp!

I've got a guard rail I could lend you Mrs81. My small child found it far too amusing to take it off and fling it round her room when she was meant to be asleep. Its not the bed guards fault - her 3 cousins used it with no problems. There's clearly an extra mischief gene in my child!

We have taken the cot side off tonight too, Mrs! We were away last week and he slept in a small bed and it went ok so we thought we better keep going. No bed guard - hard core! The upside has to be no crying, right? Downside, a tiny figure standing by the bed clawing his way in... We'll see!

awww, thanks Sunny. The problem at the mo is that the sideless cot isn't straight (has twiddly bits at either end) that makes it tricky for (eg) the ikea bed guard to fit. The other ones that I looked at were too big for a standard cot sized set up.

Good luck Sunbeam, hope we both get a decent snooze with sideless cots I put cushions on the floor just incase as a crashmat!

I'm impressed with those of you taking cot sides off I am remaining firmly in denial. With the big 2 we always had a stair gate across the bedroom door (closest door to the stairs) to prevent any late night wanderings, but I'm in two minds about it this time because M shares a room with his brother. And we broke the stair gate getting it out of the garage, so would need to get a replacement.

Decisions, decisions.

M seems to be in the process of dropping his nap which is fun. He napped yesterday then didn't sleep till about 10pm. Kept him awake today, he fell asleep (with no milk even) bang on 7pm. But I like the midday nap, it gives me a chance to catch up/sit down/make phone calls etc. Argh!

And don't even mention nap dropping...it leads to hideous behaviour later in the day on days she decides napping is for wimps!

Though like M, no nap = 7pm asleep. Both kids were in bed and asleep by 7.15 last night. It was bliss!

If she naps past 2.30 (but doesn't want to go before 1.30) it's a nightmare getting her to bed. Though she hates being got out of bed then. It's lose:lose here for sleep right now.

DS is also struggling to decide between 1 and 2 naps. Though after getting up at 5 the last 2 days, he's definitely in the 2 nap camp for now.

I'd bloody love a nap / some decent sleep!

No naps scares me. DS is usually asleep 7ish even with a nap!

Last night was fine in the end. He stayed in bed all night, and trotted through at 5.50am when our alarm went off. Even though he's a short arse, I think he'd probably love a toddler bed soon (he wriggles. A lot). Maybe an autumn project...

We bought both kids cot beds from the word go, so at least we don't need to buy beds for a few years!

How did she get on with her travel bed?

We would never have got anything bigger than a cot in our bedroom for those early months (plus we were given this one!). I quite like the look of those Ikea extending toddler beds - it would last ds for years I reckon!

The thought of no nap horrifies me. DD is asleep by 7pm and a nap doesn't affect this as long as she wakes by 4pm (though it's rare that her nap would be that late - only if we're out at nap-time). DD really likes her sleep! DS is still sleeping well.

Cotbed side still firmly on here and we're all happy with that for the time being.

Bean, she loves playing in it and pretending to go to sleep. But wouldn't bloody sleep
In it, hence the single bed. It was wearing.

If DD slept til 4 she'd be up all night!

Always so many decisions to be made in parent land! We bought another cot bed so we didn't need to rush Polly out but that's all well and good until we need to leave the house. Travel cot is really too small now. Buggered if I'm buying another one of them anyway. So I could do with her being able to sleep in a bed for trips away.

Like everything it's difficult to draw a line between what I do for my convenience and what's best for her. Suits me to stick with nappies and a cot for ages but when does it become best for her to just start dealing with these transitions?

She still sleeps 11-1 ish at home most days but gets by with a lot less at nursery. Again it really suits me to have her sleep so I'm in no rush to phase this out!