This summer has been quite hectic to say the least. We have traveled a lot for various reasons since the end of May. We are even on the road now for pastor's meetings, staying in a hotel on a beautiful lake. No complaining here! However, the earlier traveling we did in May and June really threw the girls off of any consistent schedule. After our last trip up to Michigan, the girls had begun getting into the habit of waking for a middle of the night snack. And, because we were staying with others, I didn't want them to cry and wake everyone else up, so I would oblige the girls in their middle of the night snack.
I asked our pediatrician at their 6 month appointment how she felt about letting the girls cry it out in the middle of the night. She was very kind in her answer, telling us that yes, the girls were at the age now where it was not necessary to eat in the middle of the night. How liberating was that?!! But ouch...that just meant the feedings were more out of habit for them than necessity. Now Chris and I were left with figuring out how to fix this....in comes sleep training.
I was a bit hesitant to do sleep training with twins. Anytime that we would even begin to try it in the past, the girls would wake each other up and it would just be a nightmare....one loooong night after another. I had just concluded that sleep training would not work with twins. But, I think just getting the go ahead from the pediatrician gave me the nudge to try again. Well, that and the fact that I could sense they were ready...I mean it was a pure intuition thing, but I could just sense they were ready if I would just stop caving in to the middle of the night calls for snacks.
The first night was painless for me. Chris and I had decided just a week earlier that in order for us both to start getting some sort of sleep, we would each take one night a week to sleep in the guest room with the baby monitor and let the other get it a full night's sleep in our room. When it was Chris' turn, he decided to kick off the sleep training.
The girls woke up a couple of times that night and after making sure they were ok, he let them cry it out. He said they cried for maybe 20 minutes at most. Not bad! I never heard a thing as I was tucked away back in our room, so this is why the first night was painless for me.
The second night was not so painless. The girls woke up twice I think and only cried for a few minutes. I wanted so badly to go in, but did not. Finally, at 5:30 when one woke up crying, I immediately jumped up and fed her. Chris told me I should have held out a little longer...so we decided the next night we would do better.
The third night I heard one small cry at some point in the night. Chris thinks that night was considered full success - but he didn't hear that one small cry. I did. But it was small and did not last long...which I still considered success as well.
In three nights, they got it down! Now, for about the last 2 weeks, they sleep 11-12 hours, going down for bed at 7:30 or 8:00 PM and sleeping until 7 - 8 AM! There are mornings were they will still wake at 5:30, and sometimes I do feed them because I would consider 10 hours a huge success too, but all in all, they are now 11-12 hour girls!!
A very wise, very experienced mom of 13 - yes 13 kids told me that 3 nights will cure just about anything. She was right! In fact, their full night's sleeping has also really helped with their naps that are now extended to sometimes 2 1/2 hours! They also go right down with hardly a cry. It is truly amazing. I would give that 3 day advice to anyone out there. Try 3 nights of "tough love" and the rewards will be tremendous for ALL involved!!
I asked our pediatrician at their 6 month appointment how she felt about letting the girls cry it out in the middle of the night. She was very kind in her answer, telling us that yes, the girls were at the age now where it was not necessary to eat in the middle of the night. How liberating was that?!! But ouch...that just meant the feedings were more out of habit for them than necessity. Now Chris and I were left with figuring out how to fix this....in comes sleep training.
I was a bit hesitant to do sleep training with twins. Anytime that we would even begin to try it in the past, the girls would wake each other up and it would just be a nightmare....one loooong night after another. I had just concluded that sleep training would not work with twins. But, I think just getting the go ahead from the pediatrician gave me the nudge to try again. Well, that and the fact that I could sense they were ready...I mean it was a pure intuition thing, but I could just sense they were ready if I would just stop caving in to the middle of the night calls for snacks.
The first night was painless for me. Chris and I had decided just a week earlier that in order for us both to start getting some sort of sleep, we would each take one night a week to sleep in the guest room with the baby monitor and let the other get it a full night's sleep in our room. When it was Chris' turn, he decided to kick off the sleep training.
The girls woke up a couple of times that night and after making sure they were ok, he let them cry it out. He said they cried for maybe 20 minutes at most. Not bad! I never heard a thing as I was tucked away back in our room, so this is why the first night was painless for me.
The second night was not so painless. The girls woke up twice I think and only cried for a few minutes. I wanted so badly to go in, but did not. Finally, at 5:30 when one woke up crying, I immediately jumped up and fed her. Chris told me I should have held out a little longer...so we decided the next night we would do better.
The third night I heard one small cry at some point in the night. Chris thinks that night was considered full success - but he didn't hear that one small cry. I did. But it was small and did not last long...which I still considered success as well.
In three nights, they got it down! Now, for about the last 2 weeks, they sleep 11-12 hours, going down for bed at 7:30 or 8:00 PM and sleeping until 7 - 8 AM! There are mornings were they will still wake at 5:30, and sometimes I do feed them because I would consider 10 hours a huge success too, but all in all, they are now 11-12 hour girls!!
A very wise, very experienced mom of 13 - yes 13 kids told me that 3 nights will cure just about anything. She was right! In fact, their full night's sleeping has also really helped with their naps that are now extended to sometimes 2 1/2 hours! They also go right down with hardly a cry. It is truly amazing. I would give that 3 day advice to anyone out there. Try 3 nights of "tough love" and the rewards will be tremendous for ALL involved!!
2 comments:
Sweet, sweet Savannah? So glad you all are getting some sleep now. It does make the days so much brighter!
Very valuable advice. Thank you!!! Can't wait to start using all your wisdom and experience. It's like I have my very own tutor in raising twins! :>)
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