So, as you may have read, Larry, Moe & Curly have all three learned how to escape their cribs. The first night, it was novel and somewhat amusing. Particularly the baby's dance of pride. The second night was Chinese water torture. The eldest was the last down at 10:15 pm (from a usual bedtime of 7:45). Because we'd blocked their room door with a pack-n-play (read prior post if you want to know why we can't SHUT the door), the boys were hysterical with grief. Screaming and fit-throwing as you've never seen. One was nearly hyper-ventilating from the crying the other's head was wet with sweat. There's no way you could just LEAVE them.
Last night, I got a fun break. Bray and I rarely get to see his brother and wife who have two young kids so we all got together for dinner at a local, very family friendly, Mexican food restaurant. We had so much fun, split some margaritas and dinner and, remarkably, even with five kids ages one to five, everyone did great. I was so relaxed and ready to tackle night three of the great escape. And it started off seamlessly. Everyone went into their cribs and Bray and I sat in the room until all settled down with blankies and began to rest. He suggested there was not even a need to block off the door because we'd done it, finally, and on only night 3.
Ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha. Not so. They all escaped the moment we left the room, they were just toying with us. And so the game began again. Until 9:50 this time - that's the earliest so far. So.........a very secure gate was installed this morning which led to an absolutely disastrous nap time where the boys cried hysterically again, throwing themselves against the gate, and destroying what was left in the nursery.
I do not know where this leaves us. I do know I have a date with my hubby and a couple friend tonight after the kids go down to watch the LSU game at Ragin Cajun and I'm leaving my mom to deal with it. Before you think I'm terrible, I warned her very descriptively and she still agreed. Maybe she'll have the magic touch. We've still not caved to crib tents. We are going to try lying the mattresses on the floor so they're pseudo-jailed in the cribs. If that fails tonight, the beds get converted tomorrow. And a Facebook friend told me just to grit my teeth and let them cry because the exact same thing happened to her daughter and she stopped after two nights of no attention. We'll see if my stomach is that strong.
I'll keep you posted.........keep your fingers crossed that sleep is in their (and our) future.
(Addendum from Sunday morning: my dear friend's genius suggestion worked - the springs being removed so the mattress would lie flat on the floor has rejailed the trio - here's hoping it buys us six months!)
When I read your update on FB, I hadn't realized the kids had never had a closed door. That's probably going to be the bigger transition for them than the beds. Once you have converted the beds and know the room is safe from injury, I'm afraid you will have to do what your friend says. The worst part is that you'll probably have to take her 2 nights of crying and put it to the 3rd power before giving up. This is where Daddy will come in super handy. Once you've exhausted every other option (because I know as mommies we want to try those first) and decided to try the crying it out method, let Daddy be in charge. He'll be tougher. I know the thought of crying it out sounds horrific, so I won't give pointers now of tips that can help you, but if you do have to get to that let me know.
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