Sleeping...

Well, it seems that we are making some substantial progress in the sleep department. I have the boys down to one feed per night and usually it is not really night time anymore when they are up for their feed - usually around 4:00-5:00am. That is much too early for me to start my day so I feed them and put them back down and they generally sleep until 7:00-7:30.

Letting them cry it out (as much as it almost killed me to do it) seemed to really be what they needed. I also think that the extra protein they are getting during mealtime seems to be helping as well. The last two or three nights have had very little crying and a lot of sleeping! Last night was our best night.

They were both in bed by 8:45 and Zachary woke briefly looking for his pacifier at 1:00 and once he had it, he did not wake up for a feed until 5:00. He then slept until I purposely caused a lot of noise in getting Nicolas up at 7:30.

Nicolas did not wake up at all until almost 3:30. I then fed him and put him back down. He was awake and ready to start his day at 7:00. He played happily in his crib until 7:30 when I went in to get him.

Hopefully the trend continues and we can go from 8:30 pm until 7:00 am without any waking up at all. I am very optimistic since every night has been getting better and better...

Sleep Issues

We have been struggling with this topic for a while and I have decided that something needs to be done. Zachary and Nicolas are great eaters and they get a lot of food (both solid and liquid) during the day. I cannot believe that they are actually hungry when they wake at night. Usually the first time they wake up is within 4 hours of them going to bed after having almost 8 ounces of formula! The boys are great sleepers during the day and I know they are capable of soothing themselves to sleep. So, I need to let them do that on their own. And the only way to do so, is to let them cry it out.

I have been avoiding letting them cry it out for many reasons. The main reason is that it is heart breaking! I cannot stand listening to them cry. But I have to realize that it's my problem and not theirs and I am not doing them a favor by not allowing them to figure out how to fall back to sleep on their own.

The other big reason is that I am so worried that one baby will wake the other. This is a real problem with having twins sleeping in the same room. So, to get rid of this problem, we put up the pack-n-play in the basement. When someone wakes up and needs to cry it out, I get Steve to move him downstairs. I then sleep on the couch to make sure that I am close by and so that I can hear him. The advantage with that is Steve can actually get some sleep. He doesn't have to listen to the screaming baby. I also have the baby monitor so I can keep an ear open for the baby still sleeping in his crib.

Last night was night two of this new technique. The first night Nicolas cried off and on for almost 2 hours downstairs. Last night, he slept from 8:45 until 3:15 without waking. At 3:15 I fed him and he went back to sleep until 7:30. Zachary spent a good part of the night in the basement last night. He was in bed at 8:30 and when he woke at 1:00, I had Steve transfer him to the pack-n-play. He cried off and on until 2:00. But then he slept until 6:15. At that time he was fed and put back in his crib and he slept until 7:30 as well.

In chatting with Carolyn (my very knowledgeable sister-in-law) yesterday, she mad me realize that the boys may be waking for food as a sign that they are ready to start eating more complex foods. That is; meats, pasta, egg yolks, etc... The type of food that has proteins and carbs that will keep them fuller, longer. She may very well be right. So today, we start with some meat and see what happens...

Wish us luck!

Sleeping through the night

This is the one thing that a parent of a newborn waits for impatiently. It is the one thing that ideally would happen as soon as you and your little one arrive at home. However, as most of you know, that does not happen.

I cannot complain because the boys individually have done relatively well in the sleeping department. Their nights have gradually been getting longer. They are not on the same schedule so that reduces the amount of time that I get to sleep but at least I can handle the middle-of-the-night feedings alone. Steve takes care of the last feed before he goes to bed (anywhere between 10:00pm and 12:00am). This consists of a bottle with half breast milk and half formula. I haven't found that the formula has made a difference in how long they sleep.

But as they are getting older, the length of time they go down for at night is increasing. Zach is doing very well and had his second (not in a row mind you) 7 hour sleep last night. Nic is slowing increasing his sleep time and was down for 5 hours last night. I think Nic is going through a bit of a growth spurt (trying to catch up to his brother) and has been eating a little more often and in larger quantities.

The best thing about their feedings now is that they are much faster, especially during the night. I am no longer stuck for an hour trying to feed them and get them back to sleep. It is now taking only about a half an hour before I am crawling back into bed.

Let's hope that the trend continues and Zachary becomes a permanent all night sleeper and that Nicolas is following closely behind!