The Twins cont'd
The twins were not good sleepers. For their first year, they were each up about 4 times a night. I never did manage to sleep through my Husband's feeding turn. Which meant I was up 8 times a night the entire first year. In their second year, we were up once or twice a night for each twin. I can count on one hand how many times they did sleep through the night.
Prior to my returning to work part-time, when they were 14 months old, we tried to sleep train. We had several nights of crying it out. Which really means that they cry so hard they never get to sleep and the lack of sleep eventually turns into a full blown cold. And a cold for us meant the possibility of a viral induced asthma attack, a trip to the hospital, ride in an ambulance and a few days of disgusting hospital food, no sleep, and a dent in the credit card. Needless to say, this method did not go over well with us. So we tried watering down their bottles - Nope. Putting water in their bottles - Nope. Using sippy cups, instead of bottles - Nope. It was easier for us to get up and get them a bottle a couple times a night, than to get no sleep.
At 18 months, both twins started climbing out of their cribs. We put a child lock on the inside of the door handle so they couldn't get out. This was the end of nap time for a few days as they discovered all the great things they could get into in the bedroom. Dresser drawers were emptied, closets were ransacked, and pictures were knocked off walls. Eventually, the closet doors were toddler proofed, top and bottom, and every piece of furniture removed except their beds. We installed a high shelf so that we could still have a fan and air purifier in their room. On that shelf, I stored some of the creams they needed for eczema, butt paste... One of these afternoons when they were supposed to be napping and I was ignoring the noises because I needed an afternoon break, they discovered they could throw their socks at the lotion on the shelf and knock it down. I opened the door after an hour to dis
cover two completely white children covered in butt paste, every rung on their crib, the carpet, everything was covered.
The twins were not good sleepers. For their first year, they were each up about 4 times a night. I never did manage to sleep through my Husband's feeding turn. Which meant I was up 8 times a night the entire first year. In their second year, we were up once or twice a night for each twin. I can count on one hand how many times they did sleep through the night.
Prior to my returning to work part-time, when they were 14 months old, we tried to sleep train. We had several nights of crying it out. Which really means that they cry so hard they never get to sleep and the lack of sleep eventually turns into a full blown cold. And a cold for us meant the possibility of a viral induced asthma attack, a trip to the hospital, ride in an ambulance and a few days of disgusting hospital food, no sleep, and a dent in the credit card. Needless to say, this method did not go over well with us. So we tried watering down their bottles - Nope. Putting water in their bottles - Nope. Using sippy cups, instead of bottles - Nope. It was easier for us to get up and get them a bottle a couple times a night, than to get no sleep.
At 18 months, both twins started climbing out of their cribs. We put a child lock on the inside of the door handle so they couldn't get out. This was the end of nap time for a few days as they discovered all the great things they could get into in the bedroom. Dresser drawers were emptied, closets were ransacked, and pictures were knocked off walls. Eventually, the closet doors were toddler proofed, top and bottom, and every piece of furniture removed except their beds. We installed a high shelf so that we could still have a fan and air purifier in their room. On that shelf, I stored some of the creams they needed for eczema, butt paste... One of these afternoons when they were supposed to be napping and I was ignoring the noises because I needed an afternoon break, they discovered they could throw their socks at the lotion on the shelf and knock it down. I opened the door after an hour to dis
cover two completely white children covered in butt paste, every rung on their crib, the carpet, everything was covered.
Soon, we transitioned to a toddler bed because we were afraid they would figure out how to get out their window. They did manage to open it on several occasions, but did not get the screen removed. Once in toddler beds, the evening bed time got pushed back farther and farther. We started sleeping in their beds to get them to sleep at a reasonable time, which often resulted in my husband falling asleep too. We thought we would slowly move out of their beds, closer to the door, so that they would fall asleep on their own - Nope. We tried just leaving and letting them scream - Nope. This resulted in endless screaming, lack of sleep, colds, viral induced asthma, hospital stays.... Soon we just put a twin mattress on the floor of their room and my husband slept their, or one of the twins would be brought into our bed to sleep. At some point, with my mother's help we weaned night time bottles and allowed only water. At least we no longer had to go get bottles in the middle of the night.
Somehow in the middle of all of this and with neither my husband or I sleeping together in the same bed together, we managed to conceive another child. With the birth of our third boy, my husband was now the one to take care of the twin's sleep, or lack of it. He pretty much slept on the twin mattress in their room for 6 months. With the arrival of summer, we decided to move our bedrooms downstairs to keep cool and have quieter sleeps. Now at 3 years old, one twin would sleep through the night about twice a week, but never on the same night. So, my husband continued to sleep in their room on a mattress on the floor. He wasn't too upset about this because at this time, our new baby began to never sleep. The twins were still having an afternoon nap each day, which meant they didn't go to bed at night until 9:30pm. I really didn't want the naps to end because I needed that time in the middle of the day to rest. One day, half way through August, my husband asked the twins if they would like their milk in a cup or bottle - yes, there were still drinking from bottles - they said, "Cup." We gave them their milk in a cup and quickly removed all bottles from the house that instant. They asked for a bottle a few times, but they were gone, so their was little protest. That day, they stopped napping in the middle of the day and bed time moved to 7pm. My husband still continued to put them to sleep at night by lying on the mattress in the room. My husband then had to work late a few nights, resulting in my having to put them to sleep. I was not able to lie with them because the baby was still awake, so they put themselves to sleep. A few nights later, we removed the mattress for good
At 3 years and 3 months, they regularly sleep through the night. Who new. No sleep training at all. Sometimes, they just know when they are ready. I wish potty training was that easy, but perhaps that is the problem - training. Maybe I should just let them do it on their own........
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