So I ended the last BW post with the beginning of night #2. We put them down after breast feeding and they went right down. They had a four hour run and then the rest were some three hour stretches. (yay!)
At night I swaddle them in their swaddle pods and put them down in their rock-n-play cradles. I have a sound machine, night light, and I diffuse cedarwood and lavender. I also put "gentlebaby" essential oil blend on their feet. Their room also has black out curtains and we keep the temperature pretty cool.
The following day we attempted the dreaded naps again. Cal woke at 6:30 am and Evie slept till 9 so I hung out with Cal till she woke. After they nursed together I laid them down and they were at it again. M and I let them cry for ten minutes at a time and then go in and soothe them and lay them back down. Once they start fussing we start the clock at 10 minutes. We would do this until it was time for them to nurse again (about an hour or hour and a half). It is freaking exhausting and frustrating going upstairs every ten minutes to soothe them. But I also know that putting in work now will mean more enjoyable babies (and parents) later!
We were getting super frustrated because one would fall asleep and then wake the other one up and vice versa. So we finally caved and said, "Forget this." And we moved them into separate rooms (for nap time). We had a successful nap with them separated and then a not successful nap. It didn't seem like the separate room thing made a giant difference. We decided that these poor babes were trying to learn so much at one time... sleeping in their own room, sleeping in their own beds, self soothing, sleeping for longer lengths of time, and learning to sleep through each others cries etc. Because of this we decided to take out one factor...the waking each other up issue and thought we would just work on putting them in the same room later.
Fast forward to later in the day when I noticed that Cal fell asleep doing tummy time. I know that everything now-a-days is "Back is Best" but my baby was sleeping happily so I marched him up to his crib and laid him down on his tummy. Success! He slept for an hour and a half! I was glued to that monitor like a hawk!
Once they can reliably go to sleep without crying like mad then we will move them back into the same room. And I actually think that will be soon. I can't wait to tell you about day 3... I think I discovered something that is a game changer!
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I know it's passe, so thank you for your honesty about him sleeping on his tummy. My baby is 10 months old and has yet to sleep on her back. Once I gave up and just let her sleep on her belly (on a tight sheet, no blankets, stuffies, bumpers, etc.) life got a lot easier at my house.
ReplyDeleteI love reading every bit of your adventure! From sleep training all the way back to day 1 in going through IVF. I'm just entering round 2 of IVF in LA (but actually from Newport Beach!) and your journey has brought me so much strength and hope (and I finally shared my story on my blog yesterday, which felt so freeing!). Your babies are adorable, and I look forward to reading more! Hope you are your cute little family get some rest :)
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Carly
http://bunbunbook.com
I ran across your blog recently via Instagram. Congrats! I think our twins be a week or two apart. I have two little girls. I have recently been following the baby wise schedule as well. Day time isn't a huge problem for us.. It is the nights. The girls want to be up every 3 hours. Like on the dot. They are starting to go 4 and 5 hours from the time they started feeding but it's not everynight. Do your twins wake up every 3-4 hours still over night? Or do you do the "dream feed" thing to help them sleep longer?
ReplyDeleteUntil this week they were still waking every 2-3 hours. I think they had a growth spurt this week so at their last feed I give them a bottle of my best friends breast milk along with nursing. I only give them like 1.5 ounces. Not sure if that's what is helping but you could try!
DeleteI was terrified of my son sleeping on his tummy but that's the only way he would sleep (think about it... When they sleep on you, they are basically on their tummy!). I didn't sleep well because I was also glued to the monitor, but he started sleeping great!
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