Teh new sleeping routine!1!

Every night. Every. Single. Night both of the children crawl into bed. Sometimes M brings his own blanket and pillow (he's seven. SEVEN). E on the other hand, sneaks in and wiggles between us. Most of the time I don't even notice until E is kicking me or attempting to stick her feet down the back of my pants for warmth.

The "family bed" was kosher for a while. I'm ok with the family bed as long as it works for everyone. It no longer works for me.

It's taken me a while to actually STOP FEELING GUILTY for kicking the kids out of bed. Because - obviously - it means I do not love them.

And let me admit to another one of those horrible parenting habits... E still has a bottle. Yes, she's 2 and a half. Yes, me, the crazy breastfeeder.... M was still nursing at this time but E weaned early (where early = 18 months). She also had a milk allergy early on, but now loves milk. She only gets one bottle at bed time.

And... (it gets worse) I still rock her to sleep. Yes, the great trifecta of crazy parenting. Bottle, rocking, co-sleeping.

Factor in potty training. Now I'm cutting back her milk so she can stay dry at night.

So, do I stop rocking her and cut out the milk at the same time? Do I cut out just the rocking, just the milk? Cold turkey?

Tonight I gave her the bottle, rocked her for one song and put her in bed. That was an hour ago and she's still up and down. I'm not a patient woman and this whole supernanny-walk-them-silently-back-to-bed routine is wearing thin.

I'm hoping that if she goes to sleep without being in my arms, she'll somehow stay sleeping longer. At least that's what the "experts" said would happen if I let her cry it out as a baby. Not that she's crying now... oh no, she's playing with stuffies, reading in the dark, asking for the potty so she can pee a teaspoon full (I swear, she's holding it in for more trips), needs tissue for a perfectly dry nose...

My main problem is in the middle of the night. My love of sleep and inherantly lazy nature means that I can hardly bring myself to get up and put her back to bed or deal with fussiness. It's always "fine, climb in, lie still."

But mama needs her sleep.