Sleep Training Update - Combining Bed Times

This will be the last update in this series of sleep training, though I am sure it won't be too long before I will be revisiting this topic. After all, we will eventually have to get Levi used to his crib and out of our bed. But for now, let's talk about Noah and Ava. 

Here's what I've covered so far:
Preparing for Sleep Training covered our sleep goals, current routines, and our sleep training strategy. A month later, I shared an update on our goals (We've Made Progress) and how sleep training went with Ava. In this post, I will talk about what bedtime has been like since Noah came back from his stay on the farm in Nebraska.

Goal #3 was for Noah and Ava to go to bed together. They share a room and it was always hard to keep them separate during bed time, yet when we tried to put them to bed at the same time, they would distract each other and not go to sleep. To be honest, I had serious doubts that this would work and was prepared to try for a few days, but didn't think we would have much success. Well, I am happy to say that I was wrong!

Sleep training really was a game changer for us and has made our evenings so much smoother. 

Hot summer nights haven't been helpful though and we do still have bad nights where something (or everything) goes wrong.  Noah wanting to cuddle with me and coming out of his room several times, Ava wanting to play and jump on Noah's bed as he is trying to sleep, both of them reading books and talking instead of sleeping,...when this happens it isn't easy to get it back under control which can be so exhausting. Our strategy in those cases has been to not make any exceptions, keep them in their room together and just keep sending them back to bed. It can take what feels like forever sometimes, but at least the message is clear that we aren't playing around. 

Overall though, I'm really happy with where we are now compared to the beginning of the summer. After dinner, the kids now take baths and brush their teeth together, both (yes both!) use the potty one more time, we put pajamas on, turn off the big lights, and we snuggle up in Ava's bed to read three stories (or less if one of them doesn't cooperate during the bed time routine and we start taking stories away). Some nights, I let the kids pick them out, but more often than not, I decide which books to read depending on their and my mood and how long I think Ava's attention span will be that night. 

After books, Ava gets her pacifier and lays down, Noah goes to his bed and I tuck him in. We say good night, turn off the reading lights, and I walk out. 

Typically, one of us has to go back in 2-3 more times until they're quiet and go to sleep, but at least the bedtime routine portion of our evenings is super manageable now. 

Oh and the added bonus here is nap time too. Most days, they take naps together following the same basic routine, though Noah takes much shorter naps these days. As magical as it is when it happens, the downside is, when one doesn't feel like napping, they're both up which significantly increases my coffee consumption on those days. 

I'm really glad I decided to sleep train. As hard as some nights were, and even though evenings aren't perfect (what's that even supposed to mean?), I'm super happy with the results and I'm calling it a parenting win!