Hotels, Sleep Skills and Mommy Time

We're on the road and Mama Melly is "working with da cars."  I'm beyond grateful for a job that I love, but the travel is at times tough for Lincoln.  At least the first night.  He is definitely a Manhattan born boy, who like the city, never sleeps.  OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but almost every spec of home routine goes out the window with each new hotel stay.  We have to find our new routine at each place.  

To help with this process I bring lots of familiar things to establish our environment: toys, a favorite pillow, blanket, etc.  He helps me choose which shelf or space will be for his trains, which will be for books and I put his clothes away.  We go over where his things are and we talk about putting things back in the same place so that they are ready for next time.  He's a pro at this.  It's the sleeping that is still a challenge.

He can climb, hoist and pull himself out of just about any enclosed bed (we don't say crib, "those for babies Mommy, I big").  We also, however, are not co-sleeping any more, because he sleeps so much better independently.  He just has a bear of a time putting himself to sleep.  Oh I've read about a million books about developing sleep skills and honed in on The No Cry Sleep Solution For Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers, thanks to a hot tip from one of my nieces.  Well after less than two weeks it worked and he was an sound and independent sleeper!  Miraculous!  

And then Mommy went out of town for work for a few days, and then Lincoln and Mommy went out of town for work for a few more days, AND THEN a trip to Nana and Papa's house, and then and then and then...you get the picture.  Co-sleeping, interrupted sleep for airport runs and missing Mommy all equals crumby sleep patterns which equals high levels of cortisol for the little man.  That's the nasty stress hormone that makes Mommies and Daddies overweight and makes toddlers go from angels to hellions in about two seconds flat.  So at this hotel he has a choice at nap and bed time, lay still on the pallet on the floor by the bed or sleep in the "closed bed" (a crib provided by the hotel, they really are amazing about that).  It is going quite well.  Some sleep has happened in the crib and some on the pallet, but each night he has had 11 hours of sleep.  Again, miraculous!

Lincoln's list of cool hotel stuff:

• elevators:  "I press da button by self.  It high.  I do it."
• elevators again:  Bending WAY down practically touching his nose to the metal on the floor and peeking down into the elevator shaft between the floor and the door, "It deep Mommy.  It very very deep."
• automatic doors: "It opens.  It opens.  It closed."

Mommy's list:

• Maid service, YES!