Just This Once I Wanted to be Very Wrong

There was no doubt in my mind that the transition to big boy beds was going to be a challenge, but I wanted to be wrong. I wanted to believe that it would be as seamless as moving Juliana to a bed…but I had little hope we would get that lucky again. My two primary concerns were: 1- Ruslan is wild and 2- The two of them together was likely to lead to mayhem.

Everything was ready before lunch last Saturday – all that remained in their room was the 2 beds, a basket of books, and the rocking chair and ottoman. Since they climb the dresser, we moved that to one of the closets. The boys were very excited for nap time (way too excited). They climbed on the headboard and foot board, they threw books around the room and at each other (all books were then removed), they moved the ottoman to block the door shut (I took it out of the room), they opened and closed the door over and over. After an hour I told them to come downstairs if they weren’t going to nap, but we weren’t going anywhere later. Wyatt turned around and got in bed…he loves to go places…anywhere. Wyatt slept until I woke him up to run errands. Ruslan didn’t nap.

Bedtime was bad, they didn’t even pretend that they were going to stay in their beds. I tucked them in and left their room at 7:30 and they were immediately up running around. There were many requests for drinks of water and to go potty. There were lots of tears and minor head bumps – jumping on the beds and running around in the dark will cause that. I eventually pulled Wyatt out of the room and put him in my bed to sleep. When I returned, Ruslan was asleep on the floor. It was 10:30 by the time they were asleep for the night in their beds.

Nap time on Sunday went better. First they flipped the chair over and then my Dad went up and yelled at them and they both went to sleep and took a 2 hour nap.

I had high hopes for sleep Sunday night, but it was another late night for sleep (Wyatt removed from the room again). And they were up early Monday morning as well.

Monday night…night 3…it should be getting better now. It was another long process. At one point I went upstairs to check on them and Ruslan had climbed the window blinds and was sitting across the slats, swinging against the window – I felt sick as I thought about the potential danger. I removed Wyatt at that point and I think it was 9:30. Scott went out on Tuesday and bought gates and installed them over the windows – one more safety hazard eliminated from the room.

The new bedding that I ordered for their beds arrived on Tuesday. The boys were so excited with the trucks, cars and other vehicles on the new blankets. They were sleepy when we tucked them in and after only a few warnings they went to sleep in their own beds (alone) by 8:00. Wednesday morning I had to wake them up and they were still sleepy – losing 2-3 hours of sleep every night was starting to catch up with them. I finally had hope that things would get better.

Wednesday night was back to wild time, but I moved Wyatt earlier and they were in their own beds asleep by 9:00.

Thursday night I was alone for bedtime and it went horribly bad. I finally put Wyatt in my bed and went back to Ruslan to help him calm down to sleep. When I returned to my room, I found Wyatt standing in the dark next to my bed. He had found the hand lotion on the nightstand and was rubbing it on his pjs, the nightstand, everywhere. I got him cleaned up and in bed and he finally started to settle. I think it was 10 that night before they were both asleep.

Friday Scott took Wyatt to our bed and both boys were asleep relatively early and then up and bouncing around before 5 am the next morning. Scott brought Wyatt to me before he left for National Guard and miraculously they went back to sleep.

Saturday was trick-or-treat and they were exhausted and fell asleep in their own beds. Sunday morning I heard Wyatt screaming and opened the door to see a red mark on his face. Best I can tell, Wyatt was lying down and Ruslan tried to step over him but didn’t quite make it and the bottom of the footie pjs scratched Wyatt’s face next to his right eye.

If we separate the boys, they quickly fall asleep on their own at a decent hour. Together they are out of control. I really hope this is a short-term problem because everyone is getting less sleep than they need. Although a few nights Scott has fallen asleep with Wyatt and slept later than the boys in the morning.

My mom sat in the boys room tonight until they went to sleep. While she was in there, one of them announced, “We are sleeping Nonni, you can leave now.” She waited to leave there room until she was sure they were asleep. 10 minutes after she left, I heard noise. I went upstairs and found Wyatt climbing into Ruslan’s bed to wake him up. At least one of them is asleep.