Sleep

There has been a lot of discussion about sleep lately. I have been reading about other people struggling to get their multiples down for a nap, my friends have been discussing it and I have been trying to get our girls to sleep at home. Matt and I have been discussing different strategies to get our girls to sleep "when the light is on outside".
I have always had good sleepers. When I was pregnant the only "baby" books I read were sleep books. I wanted my babies to be children who slept. When they came home from the hospital they were on a schedule and we stuck to it and the girls slept. As they grew the schedule was adjusted and the girls slept. We always had a bedtime routine dinner, bath, playtime/bottle/sippy, reading books and bedtime. I think it is this routine that has made bedtime relatively easy because the girls knew what to expect and no matter what changed (like climbing out of the crib, toddler beds and big girl beds) the routine stayed the same. Bedtime is an enjoyable time for us, the girls look forward to bed time and going to bed. On days that there is no nap bedtime is often harder because the girls are so tired they can not function.
I believe that children need sleep and a lot of disruptive behavior, temper tantrums and attention problems are directly related to sleep issues or lack of sleep. I see it in all the girls when their sleep is disrupted and I see it in other peoples kids when they are pitching a fit. I recently spoke to a woman whose daughter is the same age as the big girls and was shocked when she told me that if her daughter napped she was up until after midnight bouncing off the walls. I do not know what I would do if I had a child who was up until midnight. I think I might be the one bouncing off the walls. Then Matt reminded me that we would never have a child who was up that late because we taught our children to calm themselves down and sleep.
So why is nap time such a mess? Nap time is a mess because I was not consistent with the routine inside the house. Now that has changed and I have taken back the control, for the most part. I have separated Sydney and Lior because they just can not resist playing with each other when the light is on outside. Lior is able to fall asleep as long as she has her doggy. I let her fall asleep laying on the couch. Sydney is another story, if there is a toy to play with she will play with it and she can not calm down enough to go to sleep. Right now I lay down with Sydney in my bed and we both fall asleep. I know falling asleep with Sydney in my bed is a mistake, she should be sleeping in her own bed in her own room but Jordan is asleep in the room next door and the girls wake her up.
Jordan needs her nap and I want her to get her nap, uninterrupted every day. When the girls bang on the wall to get a reaction from me, it wakes Jordan up and she can not go back to sleep so my solution is to keep the girls downstairs and away from Jordan. I need to get some different shades for the girls room so that it will be darker and I will try and transition Sydney into her room for nap time once we get into a routine. Right now everyone is sleeping for nap time, including me, which is not a bad thing. It could be better, I would like Sydney to sleep by herself and I would like Lior to fall asleep without the television on. Time will be the biggest test and it will all change when the new baby enters the picture but for now it is working and we are sleeping soundly.