This is what you learn as a parent - no one expert is a perfect match for your family - instead you must beg, borrow, and steal various pieces of advice from multiple sources, sift through it, and try to come up with a match for your child or children in our case! We've been working on the sleeping through the night saga...with limited success. We've tried crying it out - they like to cry it out all night - seriously - they have no limit - or they'll fall asleep - and cry it out all over again the next hour! We've tried scheduling which is supposed to put them in a well-rested happy state of mind ready for bed - eager for sleep....um no. We've tried "tanking them up" with extra feedings just before bedtime - apparently we cannot tank enough to get them to sleep through the night.
So what we've been doing (for the past two nights *subject to change at any moment) is a combination of all of the above.
Step 1: I work really hard during the day to make sure they get their naps and their calories (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child).
Step 2: Put to bed swaddled and with a pacifer (Happiest Baby on the Block).
Step 3: We tank them up with a "dream feed" (Baby Whisper) at 9:00. This means while they are asleep (bedtime 7:30) we put a bottle in their bottles - they eat without waking up - Jasmine is especially impressive clearing 5-6 oz. without as so much opening an eyelid!
Step 4: Then we have decided to feed one time in the night - and do that whenever one twin wakes up - we feed both usually around 3:30 am. Then if anyone cries after this point - they "cry it out" (Ferberize or Babywise)
This complicated system has so far stopped them from the all night "niggling" waking up every 1-2 hours. We have managed to get decent sleep the last two nights and will be holding to this routine unless all havoc breaks out again...which it most likely will!
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3 comments:
That sounds SO familiar! Almost identical to what we have been doing. I highly recommend sticking with it even if there seem to be a few off days. This has been our routine for a while now and we see mucho progress and payoff.
Happy Dreams *hopefully* to all of you!
Are you guys swaddling using a velcro swaddler, or are you using regular blankets? We had a SwaddleMe (Amazon has 'em--'bout $10) and I swear that's the only thing that allowed us to sleep for the first four months. Rachael let us know when she was done being swaddled...one night she managed to get her arms out and just fell asleep anyway. After that, she was able to sleep unswaddled. But you might try a SwaddleMe if you haven't already. Also, the book "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby" helped us out a lot (I know, like you have time for more reading...). Good luck!
GOOD GRIEF! You guys are trying it all! I just heard about the happiest baby on the block... and I'm planning on reading it. I'm DEFINITELY going to be calling you for advice, though. You're sure to be the expert of all of the experts. =)
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