Please make my twin sleep longer

My twin aren't natural sleeper and their "sleep personality" is totally opposite of each other! Monster D is a fast sleeper but a light sleeper. Monster E is a slow sleeper but a deep sleeper. So there is time when E finally sleeps, D will cry out for my hugs and i have to assure him to sleep before able to sneak out of the room. I'm not really into sleep training my twins because i don't think crying to sleep will really helps for E. I tried once and makes her more awake and agitated, which in turns makes her wake up in the middle of the night more often. So i looked for a more calming way to "charm" them to sleep.

After reading alot of articles, white noise machine, essential oil and herbs seems to work for many. So i decide to combine all three and prays that it will helps.

Since I'm a iherb customer, i browse thru the website looking for some herbs which is safe for toddlers. And i picked Bioray Inc., NDF Sleep, Relax The Mind & Sleep Well, Kids, Maple Flavor, 2 fl oz. It consists mainly chinese herbs with maple favour. My twins tried it and they are able to accept the taste. So I'm able to feed them with ease.

Herb checked!

For essential oil, i picked Plant Therapy as they have a range especially cater for kids. They also have synergies for different purposes like calming, sleeping, etc. Plus they have free International shipping for orders exceed USD50! I got the Calming The Child KidSafe Set and Nighty Night KidSafe Essential Oil. For first timer, there will be USD10 discount! Please use my referral so i can get USD10 too. 

Essential oil checked!

I bought Marpac Hushh White Noise Sound Machine for awhile now but i didn't really stick to it. I don't really like the sound as it kinda noisy to me (i sleep with my twin). Anyway it's time to try it again.

White noise machine checked!

Result:-

For the first 2 nights, it doesn't make much difference. D still a fast and light sleeper. E still a slow and deep sleeper. Surprisingly 3rd day onwards, there is a slight improvement. E sleeps faster, like within 30 mins to an hour (on bad days she can still be awake after tossing for 2 hours and weeping because she is tired but can't fall asleep). D ables to sleep deeper and sometimes able to go back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night.

So now is about 2 months after trying this combination. As usual D sleeps within 30mins but able to sleep longer. He used to wake up every 3 hr, now he can stay asleep for 6hr! E ables to sleep within an hr (but on bad days she still have problem going to sleep) and able to sleep thru the night. I did had my lucky break when both slept thru the night for few times.

If your toddlers have problem sleeping and/or sleeping thru the night, you can try this combinations and prays that it will works

REVIEW: Better Life, Kitchen and Bath Scrubber

Ever since I have the twins, I try to use product which is safe and natural as much as possible. In the past, I would clean the oven with chemical soap that can erase all grime as easy & quickly as possible. After having twins, I used vinegar and baking soda method. However it does not remove all the grime (since I only clean my oven once a month, or at most twice per month). I went to Iherb and found this product - Better Life, Kitchen and Bath Scrubber

I'm quite skeptical whether it will really works as it advertises. Surprisingly it really works especially when I used it after the vinegar & baking soda method. Below is the photo I taken from my monthly oven cleaning (without the vinegar & baking soda method).

1 month old grime

I apply some "lotion" into the oven without using the vinegar & baking soda method

For "severe" situation, I would recommend vinegar & baking soda method. Then clean it one more time with Better Life, Kitchen and Bath Scrubber

Scrub scrub scrub

Most of the grime is gone. If you want sparkly clean oven, without any grime or spots. You can use vinegar & baking soda first. Left it overnight and then clean it off with Better Life, Kitchen and Bath Scrubber.

I have begin my journey of crocheting. It started out when I saw cute little crochet dinosaurs & eggs and my monsters definitely would love them. However it cost SGD15 each set (1 dinosaur + 1 egg)! Too costly for a SAHM. So I thought to myself, how difficult it can be, just a needle & a yarn. I bought the patterns for little dinosaurs and eggs, and got a shock. They didn't teach you step by step how to go about it!!! 

I did some knitting long long time ago like 15 years ago. Seriously I don't remember how to do it anymore. So back to basic, using Youtube to learn how to crochet before I attempt the dinosaurs. I tried something easy, crochet an apple. I stopped after it become an orange. LOL! My monsters played with it like a Yoyo because they think it is a Yoyo. Next time is baby shark bag. They absolutely love baby shark songs so I guess the bags would be a hit for them. After 3 weeks of hard work, finally 2 baby sharks come out from the "oven". Lucky my monsters love it. 

I should have chosen pure white for the teeth rather than off white. With my novice skill and off white teeth, the sharks look horrible. At least I can educate my monsters to take good care of their teeth if they do not want their teeth to become crook and yellow 😂

REVIEWS: Training pants

Now my twin monsters is 2.5 years old, they have been wearing training pants for few months. Pro is we definitely save alot on disposable diapers and saving Mother Earth too. Con is more washing for me 😢 

So far they have tried 3 types of training pants. First is those cheapo training pants I bought on Taobao. My thoughts is I don't know whether they will like it, so just buy something cheap $5 a piece for them to try it out. They love different types of designs which is totally different from their boring disposable diapers. But the cheapo pants really cannot keep their pee in. I always have to mop up the floor which is creating more jobs for me. Since they are ok with training pants now, I bought Lil Learnerz Training Pants and Bumwear for them to try it out. These two are better than those cheapo Taobao pants but price will be much higher too.

Lil Learnerz size S

You can see I have unbutton the top button

Lil Learnerz Size M

Bumwear Size M

Lil Learnerz Size S

Lil Learnerz Training Pants - SGD29.90 for 2 pieces at Pupsik Studio

1. The inner lining is real soft and comfy! I bought it for monster E as she began to have rashes all over her crotch area after wearing those Taobao training pants. Monster D saw it and wanted to wear as well, after he tried it out, he totally fell in love with it. So everyone is fighting over Lil Learnerz Training Pants now.

2. Tokidoki design is so adorable! My monsters totally love it and they called it dinosaur pants which I don't know why

3. Its absorption is really good. I bought Medium for them to wear, and totally no leakage at all, no matter how they turn and toss during bedtime. But for Large, there will be leakage if they wear it to sleep because it is slightly too big for them around the thights area. But it seems the waist line is more comfy for them, so I let them wear Large during their active time. Medium during the bedtime, and I loosen one of the top button so the waistline will not be tight. (My monsters weigh about 10kg for 2.5 years old)

4. It is easy to wash too. Basically I will collect all the soiled pants in a pail for a day. Next day I will soak them with white vinegar (mixed with water) for 1 to 4 hours (depending how busy I am). After soaking I just throw everything in the washing machine and let the machine does her job. No stains no tears after using for 4 months

5. Lastly after comparing the price with several cloth diapers, I think the price is quite reasonable as well. 

Bumwear Training Pants - SGD60 for 6 training pants + 12 lining, bought 2nd hand from Carousell 

1. The inner lining is soft too, but what I did not like is the latex in the pockets for inserts placement. After using for a month, the latex start fraying and sticking out from the pockets. So kinda tickish for my monster D.

2. Design wise I think is just fair. I love the red, but not much of rest of the colors.

3. Absoption is better than those cheapo Taobao pants. The pee doesn't leak out during their active time, but it leaks out during bedtime. So I only let Monster D wears during his active time to prevent wet mattress.

4. I wash it the same way I did for Lil Learnerz Training Pants. The only difference is I need to pull the soiled inner lining out from the pocket before throwing it into the pail. After 4 months of using it, the latex in the inserts placements started fraying. Waterproof ability seems to drop too.

5. Since I bought it 2nd hand, it is much cheaper than brand new $27 each. 

**For reference: The seller told me she only used it several times and she switched back to disposable diapers.