Have you heard that term before – “I slept like a baby”? It wasn’t until I had Clark and Dean that I started to resent that term. My kids slept for about an hour and a half at a time – opposite each other. By the time I was done changing, feeding, and putting one back down to sleep – the other was awake. Joy.
As time went on they started sleeping more but not in their cribs – in swings. They LOVED them. Imagine having two swings in your living room going all night. Mind you, we got them all used so I think we wore out about 4 swings. It was my HORROR when the batteries would die or the swing would break. I would be panicked – how would they sleep? I worried – when will they sleep in their cribs? They had a beautiful room that was set up and they never used it!
Around 4 or 5 months – I can’t recall – we swaddled them and started using their cribs. I was SO excited! They would sleep for a few hours at a time and then wake up to eat – reswaddle, etc. Of course – not at the same time – which was almost a blessing because how could I feed them both at the same time? This was before they could hold their own bottles. You have to get creative when you have two – trust me.
At around a year or so I talked to the pediatrician because I just couldn’t get them to sleep – the only thing that made them sleep would be if I gave them a bottle. He said they needed to learn to self soothe themselves back to sleep. That I just needed to let them cry – if I could do it – and if it didn’t make them too upset. But I had to be committed. I was finally at the point that I knew I needed to do it. I needed to just let them cry and figure it out.
We moved one kid into our room while we sleep trained one and then did the same for the other. Believe it or not – through all the tears (mostly mine) – it worked. They were sleeping in their room, in their cribs, not swaddled, and happy. They were now secure enough to go back to sleep when they woke up crying.
I am not advocating for the “cry it out method” – I am simply saying what worked for me. I know this is very controversial and that’s not the point of this. You need to do what works best for you.
People who babysit or are over when the kids go to bed say , “I can’t believe you just put them in their cribs and they go to sleep. I want to say “ME EITHER!”
Oh, Stacie, this is SO OUR STORY with our twins! They never slept at the same time, and we did swings in the living room, and then one in a swing and one in our room, and then one in a crib in the nursery and one in our room, and finally both in the nursery (Maybe at like 5 months?) with elaborate routines of swaddling and bottles and bouncing and then OMG we finally did CIO for about 2 days and then, and only then, they slept like babies! Now at 15 months they are the absolute best sleepers. It’s a hard road for everyone, but having two is it’s own special brand of nuts. Thanks for the post!
Shauna,
I wish I would have done it sooner but it all worked out in the end! LOVE those swings!
Tessa,
You never know what you are going to get – some people are blessed with great sleepers! We were put to the test – but we passed. 🙂 I always think about the time we were at an event and someone had a kid a little older than ours and the parents asked “Are they sleeping through the night?” I looked at my hubby and he replied “NO, but thanks for asking.”
Love that last line. That happens to me all the time, everyone is like… so at 7 you just put him in his crib and he falls asleep? YES its just that easy!! We must be so lucky to have such a ‘good sleeper’. EXCEPT for the first 7 months where that NEVER happened and we had to work long and hard to build that routine up. Hard work not just luck for sure! But yes…now he has been sleeping ‘easily’ for longer than he was sleeping like crap, so thats good. Just in time for baby number 2 to come along and we start all over 😉 Great article 🙂