But actually, there probably are. Because every freaking day the boys' sleep changes.
They were pretty much sleeping through the night. Not 10 hours, but 7 or 8 and then another 5.
It was awesome.
Then they got their four month shots a little over a week ago. That night they were both up all nights with fevers.
So maybe it's my fault, because they were sad and sick and hurting, but every hour or so when they woke up I would cuddle them, snuggle them and nurse them back to sleep.
Suddenly, the next day, they were back to screaming every time I tried to put them down, even for naps.
Travis and I would walk five times around our block (after 40 minutes of them fighting sleep inside the apartment) before they fell asleep.
Then they would wake again in 4 hours and then two hours and then they'd stay awake crying for two hours.
And we were getting MAD.
We decided that now was as good a time as any to let them "cry it out."
This resolve lasted 20 minutes, and then we couldn't do it, and we picked them up and put them to sleep via rocking.
And the last two days have been better, because the boys are taking their naps again (sort of) and last night they slept from 7pm to 1am, and then 1:30 to 5am. But they've pretty much been up since 5.
So... they're doing medium.
But now Micah is fussing, so I better go.
Anyway. Sorry the post today is boring -I'm too tired to do anything more for you.
:)
8 comments:
A post about sleep could only possibly be boring to people who don't have twin boys the same age! I never tire of reading about other babies' sleep because my own babies' sleep is currently such an all-consuming issue.
Right now one of my 14-week-old boys reliably sleeps 9 pm to 5:30 am and the other sleeps until 3:30 or 4:00 am, nurses, and then sleeps again until 5:30 am. But naps are a bit of a fiasco. And I wish they would sleep a little later than 5:30 am. I don't really want to get up with the sun.
Your boys are four weeks ahead of mine, so I am always watching to see what they are doing to know what to expect in the coming weeks. Thanks for being my bellwether!
Man. I don't have twins, just one girl, but I will just say I feel for ya. our little girl slept like 10-11 hour stretches till she started teething at about 3 1/2 months and ever since then (shes 10 months now) we have been dealing with the sleep schedules. up and down - never consistent - always changing.. we will finally decide to let her cry it out and it never works. wish I had some advice, but all I can say is at least you are not alone!
This time last year my almost 18 month old FINALLY started STTN 12 hours every night and we haven't looked back. BUT...before that we could be up every 1-3 hours for about 5 weeks or so. Granted, I only had 1 boy...but it was still exhausting. You're gonna do what works for you...but if you ever think that a CIO method might work for you, I highly recommend the book "SleepEasy". It was our "sleep bible" and we adjusted it to our needs and are forever grateful to it. There is a section for twins/multiples in there. A friend with identical girls sleep learned/trained her twins at 4 months and they've been awesome sleepers ever since. Just some food for thought. :)
poor mama+daddy, poor babies.
I hope they kind of bounce back into a schedule soon.
I don't believe in the cry out method. Let me rephrase, I believe it works but I don't believe I want to do it that way. It is horrible and I don't mind snuggling my kids until they are calm and asleep. Eva sleeps just fine and so does Scarlett.
I remember those days, around the time the twins were 4 months when we were really trying to work on their sleep schedule. We were going absolutely nuts trying to get them to sleep well because my husband and I desperately needed better sleep ourselves. We finally decided to do crying it out. The boys weren't happy because they were getting poor sleep and we couldn't be the best parents because we were so sleep deprived- crying it out was worth a shot.
We sort of phased into it, checking in the first day after 3 minutes and capping at 20 minutes. The next day was every 5 minutes. The next day was every 7 minutes and capped at 25 minutes. Etc. I think that helped both the boys and us parents not feel too horrible about doing it. When you start out, it's really hard to hear them cry, so it might help to have a book to read so you're not counting seconds (and probably jumping the gun).
The effects really started showing after a couple weeks when they'd finally not wake up so much at night. They'd still have some off nights but it was generally much better. When you do go in, don't pick him up. We'd rub their back and forehead, replace a binky if necessary, and say shhh- whatever bests calms him. When night sleep gets better, it's easier to get naps going. Our boys finally got on a nap schedule at about 5 months, three naps a day with about 2 hours and 15 minute of wake time between. Just having that pattern repeated four times each day helped the boys know what to expect and get into a routine.
That's our experience, maybe any of that might help you. Good luck!
I agree with Katie B's comment. When my triplet girls were babies, we really had no choice but to do the sleep training and letting them cry it out. So we did the same thing, let them cry for 5 mins and go in replace soothers, rub backs and pull blanets up. I always tried NOT to talk to them. Just quietly shush them and then walk out. It worked out really well. It got so if one was crying the other two would gabber to that one and pretty soon they were squeeling and giggling and then quiet. I'd peek in and they'd all be asleep! What great moments! I remember putting them down for naps (did the same thing) and I would run around and clean like crazy for about 20-25mins, while they talked and laughed. Then when they fell asleep I'd go drop into my bed and sleep too. I seriously did this every time. It's amazing how much cleaning I could get done in those 20-25mins. I had to have a nap or I wouldn't be able to go on. Anyways, hang in there, hopefully they'll get back into a good schedule.
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