Before I left work on maternity leave, I told my boss that I was planning to return to work when the girls were about 12 weeks old. I figured that would give me plenty of time to get them on a schedule. Isn’t that what “they” say? 3 months & you can get them into a schedule? I’m here to tell you that “THEY” are full of shit.
For WEEKS now I’ve been trying to figure out when the girls sleep & eat. I have absolutely no problem having a ‘baby led’ schedule, I’m more than willing to work around whatever they’ll give me … the problem is, they weren’t giving me CRAP. They wouldn’t nap in the living room bassinet, they wouldn’t nap in their crib, they wouldn’t nap in the bassinet in our room … they. wouldn’t. nap. <–period. The past week or so, they HAVE given us a solid 5-6 hours of sleep at night. What AMAZING moments of sweet, sweet slumber. In bed – ALONE – with my husband. I thought we were much further away from those moments. They really couldn’t have come at a better time, ya know, right when you’re thinking, “Holy F***! What was I thinking starting over with a newborn – much less TWO – when we’re less than a short 6 years from having an empty nest?!?! Tell me again whose BRILLIANT idea this was??” Needless to say … our nights were pppprrrreeeettttttty r.o.u.g.h.
So just about the time that this 5-6 hour night stretch started, I was also trying to convince these itty bitty chickies to take naps during the day. We’d get a 15 minute stretch out of this one, or a 10 or 20 minute one out of the other – but no solid sleeping during the day. It was really for my own sanity that I was trying to get them to nap, but realistically, don’t they NEED that sleep too? Their tiny little bodies can’t possibly recharge on what they were getting – and they were NASTY little critters to deal with unless they’re hanging off my boobs! It’s gotta be the sleep thing I thought!
So, I’m here to report – after a solid week of trying to force naps, of rocking, cradling, patting, rubbing with bouncing bassinets, vibrating beds, rocking cribs and even a free white noise app for good measure – I lose {insert Whammie music here – wah waah wah waaaaah}.
15 minutes ago, with the rest of my family all nestled (yes, all snug in their beds), that since they’re sleeping for me in their crib at night AND giving me a solid stretch of sleep, the girls can sleep in their swings during the day. Yesterday & today I didn’t have the extra hours to fight with them to sleep in a bed [ANY bed girls, I wasn’t being picky!], and so I said the hell with it & put them in the swings … both days, I got at least a 2 hour nap out of them. I may have had to comfort a little here or rock a little harder there, but they SLEPT … which means they got some real rest (and I got to make a cheesecake with MonkeyFace! :))
Schedules? We’ll get there … you can’t even think about making a schedule until you have something to actually put ON it, right? I’m exhausted from researching why they’re so fussy – gas, colic, gripe water, won’t sleep, gas drops, lactose overload, green poops, probiotics, reflux, blah, blah blah, blah blah. I’ve read more about all this crap than I care to admit – and what have I learned? The girls are sleeping at night & they’ll even sleep for a little stretch during the day if I let them sleep in the swings. That’s it. Once we get this sleep thing down for a couple more nights, I’ll see if I need to continue worrying about the other stuff. For now, I’m loading them up with more stuff than I ever imagined I’d be comfortable doing … and maybe some of it’s actually working? I couldn’t have gotten even 20 minutes of sleep out of them, even in the swing, 2 weeks ago. Guess I need to order more probiotics before I run out!
I give up, girls … if you’ll sleep more than 20 minutes during the day, I’ll be glad to let you do it in your swing. The Twins Win.
Teen, Tweens & Twins 