Sleep...Oh blessed sleep, where art thou??
We moved the girls into their own cribs several weeks ago even though it broke my heart into pieces. They did better for several days after that and I thought we had found the answer. Then...well...it just went to poop.
Let me give you a rundown of our night. Olivia goes down around 7:00. And then she is up every half hour(!!) until about 12:00. This means that one of us is constantly running up the stairs to replace a binky or pop in a bottle or to soothe her back to sleep. After 11:30 or 12:00 she gets up every hour to 2 hours until 7:00. Then she is up bright, sunshiney, ready for her day. And she actually finishes 3 4oz bottles every night! She was down to only one, but maybe she is going through a growth spurt?? And Abby who was sleeping through the night until 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning is now waking every 2 to 3 hours at night. She too is drinking several full bottles. WTH, girlies?? So we are tired...again...and wondering if it will ever get better.
You know, when they were tiny I worried about them getting used to sleeping in their swings or bouncers during the day. I just couldn't see myself putting them in the co-sleeper or in their cribs upstairs and having them go down at different times and me being downstairs. It was just so overwhelming. So many MOMs told me it was all about survival and to just make it through. Well, we did and I am grateful to those words of wisdom, but now here we are, in a bad habit rut of sleeping in swings during the day, Olivia being rocked to sleep by me upstairs around 7:00, and Abby being rocked to sleep by Gary in front of the TV around 10:00. I know they need 3 naps a day and I am trying to get them on a schedule, but dang it is hard.
Plus, I really want to get them upstairs for naps. (Oh to have the downstairs to myself for an hour without having to worry about waking them.) But I have not the foggiest notion of how to go about transitioning them upstairs for naps. And while we are at it; how to get them to go to sleep on their own and STAY asleep!!
And I know people have had great success letting their kids cry it out, but this is not the answer for us right now. I won't say never because maybe in a few months...but I really don't see myself ever letting them CIO. I just cannot do it!! The only time Zach would cry was when he was about 10 months old and I knew he was super tired. He cried for about 10 seconds...and that was pushing it for me. To ask me to put my baby (My BABY!!) in a dark room and leave her there crying and calling for me for 10 minutes??? Will not happen...nope...no...I may just have to go ahead and say never! So we are looking for a different solution to our situation.
Plus, (yes, another plus) let's just say I am ok with them fussing and crying with us standing there beside them (I did this with Zachary) how in the world can we soothe one baby to sleep as the other, who is hyper aware of the other, is laying there trying to sleep? Let's say Olivia wakes up and instead of picking her up or putting a bottle in her mouth we let her know we are there but let her fuss. Abby starts waking up and by the time Olivia might be ok about going back to sleep on her own, Abby is awake and crying and that wakes up an almost asleep Olivia!!!!! People!! It is an endless cycle! We are clueless how to go about sleep training them.
Anyone have an answer for us? Anyone???
::sigh::
yeah, I didn't think so.
I have ordered 3, yes 3, books and we are hoping the answer lies among the pages of them.
7 comments:
I know it is soooo hard; but do the cry it out thing. It is the hardest thing in the world; but you will appreciate it when you do it; and it works! It only took us three nights! I would also talk to their doctor and find out if they really need the milk through the night. We stopped the bottles at night and now they are fine without milk until the morning.
Good luck
SS
Just read your post and wanted to say you are not alone. How old are your girls now? My boys are almost 4 months and they just now started sleeping 7 hr stretches at night. But one will wake up the other and I don't know how to stop that from happening ever! You mentioned 3 4 oz bottles per night. What worked for us recently is giving them both 6-8 oz for that last bottle before bed in hopes of them staying full all night--and making sure they are getting all they need for the day as far as ounces during the day to avoid a nightime bottle.
As far as crying it out, I am with you on that. I could never let my daughter do it and won't with my boys. Sounds like us moms are all in the same boat at one time or another. I am sure this 7 hr stretch won't last long for me and I'll be next writing about lack of sleep. Good luck to you and hang in there! They'll be sleeping through the night eventually!
Mine are sleeping upstairs too and it's hard. Up down up down all day long. I can't get them to stay asleep during their day naps to save my life. Can't do CIO either. Good luck to us both!
Oh sweetie I went with the cry it out choice. I hated it I'm sure more than the baby did, but it worked for us. I was the one who had to tough it out. I have nothing else to offer. So sorry.
We had good results with the No-Cry Sleep Solution (book) by Elizabeth Pantley. Good luck!
Crescent Moon Mama ~
yes, this is one of the 3 books we ordered. I am hoping and hoping it will work for us.
Hey Sweetie,
You know I am right there with you. This sucks, and I am only at 3 months with my crew. I don't have any advice and will probably be coming to you for some down the line. What I do wish is we could leave the kiddos with someone and go get a nice meal or a massage. Heck, I'd just settle for a hairwash at this point! Hugs. I'm here to vent to if you need to!!
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