AD | This post is in conjunction with TEMPUR®, but all thoughts are my own. I was also compensated for my time.
I’m not sure about anyone else but my children’s bedtime and sleep routine seems to have gone out the window in the last six months.
A combination of lockdown and school holidays has messed it right up. It’s National Relaxation Day on August 15, and considering I relate relaxing to sleep, it got me thinking about how much everyone in my house actually gets. (Not enough, is a pretty good summary!)
Once schools closed back in March, I fully intended to keep everything the same and crack on with the whole homeschooling thing. (Back then when I had high hopes of it being a success – oh how silly I was!)
Standards slipped within a week
But within a week things were already slipping. And I’m not just talking about the phonics lessons for my five year old. It seemed our whole day and night time routine was changing and I was a little bit out of control of it.
It started off well with me ensuring all three boys were downstairs, dressed and fed by 9am. Ready to supposedly do a PE lesson with Joe Wicks. But we all know how that ended up – lasting only two days before we sacked it off.
So gradually as the days went on, our morning routine became more relaxed and we’d come downstairs later and later. On the one hand I LOVED not having to set an alarm for 5.45am to ensure all three boys were out the door at 8.30am. But this also meant it wasn’t unusual for us to be eating breakfast at 10am. And they were STILL asking for snacks half an hour later. Lunch was often then more 1.30pm – 2pm. Then further snack demands, of course.
As a result of our entire day shifting, it therefore meant bedtime was getting later and later too. And very much eating into our precious evening and adult time. This was quite frankly a disaster!
How long does it take to form a habit? Not long…
Scientists argue over how long it takes to form a new habit. Anywhere from 18 – 254 days apparently! But I can say from my experience it pretty much took less than a fortnight for bedtime to be well and truly messed up. And it wasn’t even like they actually fell asleep quickly when I finally got them to bed.
The fact they weren’t at school or pre-school and not wearing themselves out as much as before was a big factor in the playing up at bedtime.
Fast forward to when we were allowed out more, and school holidays this got even worse. All that needed to happen was for someone to fall asleep in the car on the way home from a day out and you could kiss goodnight to any sleep before 9pm.
It’s safe to say my three year old twins aren’t great sleepers. Apart from last week when we were in a caravan and they slept ALL night EVERY night!
Bed invaders are not unusual
But at home, at least five nights out of seven we have little bed invaders. They come creeping in anywhere from 2.30am onwards.
They have in fact worn me down. I used to spend ages putting them back to their own beds, determined I wouldn’t co-sleep. But would then waste precious sleep time kneeling on their floors dealing with a crying child, risking waking the other twin up just metres away in the same room.
A few months back I gave up trying and let them come in. Because now when they do that, they go straight back to sleep – as do I.
I originally thought it was because they’d had a nightmare, or were scared of the dark. But no, now I think it’s just because the mattress on our bed is way more comfy than theirs.
TEMPUR® mattresses are the way forward
So I guess I can’t blame them. Plus it’s a super king size one, and according to this TEMPUR® mattress size guide, that means it’s 180cm wide, giving my husband and I both a whopping 90cm of sleep space each. Luckily we can easily fit a child in between us without having to hang off either side to accommodate them. So that means everyone sleeps well.
We bought our super king bed and mattress just after the twins were born, with that idealistic view of Sunday mornings all in bed together reading books and chatting. That’s not quite the reality, as you can imagine with three children under five, but it’s come in super-handy with my boys’ inability to sleep in their own beds. Some nights we even have two boys creep in and go back to sleep. And we can all still fit.
But if that’s going to help us all get back into some sort of good sleeping routine ready for schools to go back in September, then I don’t mind!
TEMPUR® was first created by NASA in the 1970s to cushion astronauts during lift-off as they journeyed into space. These days TEMPUR® material is used to make mattresses and pillows that evenly distribute weight and pressure, ensuring a comfortable night’s sleep. And when you see my twins sprawled out asleep, you can see they must be comfy!
TEMPUR® makes keeping your mattress clean simple
TEMPUR® mattresses and pillows have zip-off covers and are machine washable at 60 degrees – pretty handy when young kids are involved.
With the current climate’s focus on hygiene, TEMPUR® will be offering disposable mattress covers, gloves and antibacterial hand gel in stores. So those wishing to test out a mattress are as safe as possible.
I guess at some point I should probably address the co-sleeping thing. Maybe they need a TEMPUR® mattress to sleep on.
But in the meantime I’ll take the easy option and let them in, assuming they’re not still doing it when they’re 15, so we can all have a good night’s sleep.
How did I do?
Did you enjoy this post? If you want to read some more of my reviews, there are plenty to choose from. Check out my thoughts on the Mountain Buggy Nano Duo, the Land Rover Discovery, or the Maxi Cosi Pearl Pro car seat. And if you want my usual mum ramblings, check out my Mum Life section.
If you like a bit of social media madness, pop over to my Facebook page where you’ll be able to have a laugh at what ridiculousness goes on in my house with three very small boys on a daily basis. Warning – there is often sarcasm, and usually swearing. There are also great travel reviews and some AWESOME giveaways. Feel free to join my Twins, Tantrums and Cold Coffee – Shits and Giggles Parenting Group too, where everyone shares their hilarious stories.
And if you want to work with me, feel free to give me a shout here or at helen@twinstantrumsandcoldcoffee.com and I’ll get back to you.