Bedtime ritual

Ever wonder how you get three babies to sleep at night? We've finally got it figured out. OK, I'll admit it - we've got it more than figured out. We've got it mastered - imagine that! We start at around 6:15. We line up three boppies in front of the TV (yeah, yeah, I know) and grab 3 bibs, 3 propping blankets, and 4 burp cloths (one for backup)!! We start warming up the bottles, then one at a time they get into their jammies. Once dressed, that baby goes to the family room to sit in the boppy and watch "Finding Nemo", then it's on down the line until all three are lined up and engrossed in the movie. Oh yeah - the movie is the critical part of this scenario. No movie = three hysterical babies. No joke.

By the time they are dressed, the bottles are usually warmed up enough (Elli can't stand it if it's anything but warm). We have to be careful not to mix the bottles up - Ellison eats more than the other two, Tyler and Ellison get rice cereal in theirs, and Haley doesn't. Tyler and Ellison get reflux meds and Haley gets probiotics, so we have to grab all that stuff, too!

From there, it's on with the bibs - and we have to be fast with this part - they know what's coming next and usually start screaming if we're too slow! Then the bottles go in and the blankets go under and we're underway! Half way through, Elli and Tyler get their medicine and Haley gets her probiotics. When they're done, they get burped and then it's time to wind down. Tyler likes to swing for a few minutes, and the girls like to be held or sometimes they are content to stay in their boppies. Once they start to get quiet and their eyes get heavy, it's off to bed! We have the Rainforest music and lights crib doo-hickeys, so they watch them, hold on to their blankies and drift off to never never land. It's that easy!!!!!! HA!!!! Oh yeah - I almost forgot! Every couple of days we throw bathtime into the mix - always an adventure!!



As long as all of this is completed by 7:15, we rarely hear a peep from them. Miss it by 10 minutes and it's a whole other ballgame. It can take hours to settle them down if we aren't on time, so we rarely mess with this ritual. Would you?!



That being said, Jeff and I are looking for a babysitter the next time we take time off work, and we're going very far away. Any takers?! :)