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Having a lot of anxiety about upcoming vacation. Need encouragement
We are going to the beach for a week soon. We are taking our 20 mo and our 8 mo. We have a suite and we will probably put them in the bedroom in pnps and we may sleep in the living room. I am anxious over how the sleeping is actually going to go. Currently they sleep 7-7 with the 8 mo waking at 5 to eat and then back to sleep. The 8 mo naps at 9am and then they both nap at around 1. My DH is talking about "being flexible" with schedules. Unfortunately the boys are not very flexible. DS1 does not nap in the car or stroller. Ds2 may nap in the car. I have had about 2 years of not sleeping well and it's just finally getting good and we are doing this. Both boys have been sleep fighters. They do not sleep next to us and ds2 does not nurse to sleep. They thrive on routine and only sleep in their seperate dark rooms with the white noise on. I will obviously make the conditions like their rooms as much as possible. I just can't help but dread this whole situation. I'm concerned that they won't nap. I'm concerned that they will wake each other up at night. I'm concerned that they will get overtired and be generally miserable. Im afraid no napping will result in bad nightime sleeping. My DH is usually understanding of their schedules but I'm afraid he will try to jam pack our days and it will not go well. I'm afraid it will take a solid week or more after the vacation to get them back to the good schedule. I'm afraid of a lot of screaming in a hotel room and I'm afraid I will be so tired that I will not have fun. I feel like DH doesn't understand and really can't since he has not been tired for two years. Please tell me to get over it and that it won't be so awful. I'm is not doing any good to worry or obsess about this anymore. Thanks. sorry no indents.
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Re: Having a lot of anxiety about upcoming vacation. Need encouragement
It's not much of a vacation if it's stressing you out. I was worried about this two when we went to the beach with two six month olds. Everyone did fine. Routines get out of whack, kids and parents are tired, but I found if I just sort of went with it, things were MUCH better for all of us.
The boys did nap in the car when we were out and about so that helped. I also bought one of those small tents from One Step Ahead to use on the beach. Both boys napped in there too because they were so worn out! I also found they slept really well at night because they had such action packed days.
I know it's easy to say but hard to do but try to take a "here's my plan but I'm gonna go with the flow" approach. Otherwise you will be irritated and stressed for your entire vacation.
I hope you all have a great time!
My twins are 5! My baby is 3!
DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi
DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame
honestly I haven't been away with both of them overnight for an extended time yet-
however I can say- just try to roll with it.
What i would suggest is mainly focusing on #2's sleep first. Let him nap as uninterrupted as possible in the morning- (i.e have one parent go out and do something fun with #1- while the baby naps- and switch off- next day the other parent stays 'in' for nap maybe) - who ever is out with #1's SOLE JOB is to tire him out. seriously tucker him out- and then enjoy lunch as a family- and begin a 'slow down' part leading in to both of their naps. Give it a shot and see how nap goes- but don't OVER FIGHT it- learn when to throw the towel in and head out for a little more fun- even if its low key fun.
try not to stress and enjoy. sounds like fun.
This is just a thought. If you have a suite, there's a chance your bedroom may have a walk-in closet. We used many a walk-in closet as a PnP sleeping space when the girls were younger, including the closet at my mom's house when we visited her. Your infant probably won't object to being put in a walk-in closet to sleep and it would solve the problem of them not sleeping well in the same room.
My girls are now ages 3 and 5. FINALLY they are sleeping well together in the same bed when we take vacations, but it feels like it took us such a long time to get here!
yup- walk in closets are great nooks.
We stuck the PNP in a large Walk in when we were in Williamsburg- worked like a charm.
Can completely empathize with you and would feel the exact same way: why take a vacation that can/probably will screw up the nap time and bed time routines you've worked so hard to establish?
But, I also agree that a vacation would be such a nice break, probably a lot of fun, and what great memories you all will make as a family! Even if no one sleeps!
Definitely recreate home nap and bed time environment as best as possible and try to stick with a daily schedule/routine. I love the PnP in a closet idea (worked for us while traveling before Emily was 2yrs)!
What always works for me is to "expect the worst yet, hope for the best".
Good luck and have a wonderful time!!!
eclaire 9.10.06 diggy 6.2.11
I agree with everyone's advice but also wanted to add that don't feel bad for stressing. I am the same way! I always think vacations and trips sound like so much fun and a great way to have new experiences and make memories but they stress me out so much. LOL.
Anyway, if all else fails, a little pre-nap and pre-bedtime cocktail to ease the nerves?
Have fun! I am jealous you are going to the beach. 
I had myself all worked up about the same concerns for our beach vacation last year. Granted, we only had one baby at the time--he was an 8-month old who had just started sleeping 12 hours without waking and really thrived on a schedule. I'll be honest and say his sleep was a bit of a mess, but we just went with it and it wasn't as bad as I'd expected. The worst part was that he woke once every night we were there, but we just gave him a bottle and he went straight back to sleep. He also woke at 5:30am every morning of our vacation (yay me!), so I just tried to embrace it as a chance to have quiet time. I would put him in his pack-n-play outside and have my coffee. He was happy to play and it was nice to have a bit of time to myself in a beautiful setting.
I will say that I found our little guy napped much better in the stroller while we were on vacation, probably becaues he was so tired! So the night wakings worked to our advantage in the nap department.
Good luck! I hope it goes well!
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