Project Sleep, Step 1: The universe laughs

Last night, after the kiddos unexpectedly went down and stayed down (for at least a couple of hours), we formulated a Plan. With routines and timetables and grand ideas of nappage and nursing and play all in neat order. You see where this is headed, right?

Yeah. We were off track from the start. B-Boy was up early (6:30), and got only mildly settled back down after nursing. MissM was stirring at 6:45. I decided not to fight it, and declared the day started at 7, much to J’s disappointment. We nursed at about 7:40, played for just a little while, and then put B-Boy down for a nap. Which went okay (read a story, pulled down the shade, put on the Lullaby CD, gave him his lovey). MissM was still wide awake and I didn’t want to force things*, so we kept her up for a bit longer then put her in the swing to nap. At which point B-Boy woke himself up by getting his foot stuck between the rails while attempting to roll over. J untangled him and left him in the crib for the full length one might expect of a nap (e.g. long enough for us to take turns with quick showers) and got him up when MissM woke after her own nap. So, one nap down, and it was just a bit past 9. And so it went. By mid-afternoon, B had three naps, each lasting 20-40 minutes. M had two naps, one 45 minutes, and the other about 35. Finally at about 3:30 I nursed them down for a long nap in my lap. And they did go down fairly smoothly at bedtime, which has been an issue lately.

The universe seems to be laughing at my grand notion of a Plan. “You think somehow you can magically convince your babies to take long naps, at the same time, for more than a few minutes, while neither on your lap nor in the car? HA ha ha.”

So, um, anyone have a nap routine to share? At some point we’re going to change things up, but for now we have a functioning bedtime routine (it involves nursing to sleep on my lap, which means I can’t put them down alone). I think the routine helps them settle - not always perfectly, but it’s a cue that it’s time to wind down. So it seems that a nap routine would be a good idea too. Maybe if we come up with a solid routine we can put them both down together. Or the universe could chuckle at my hubris. Either way...

We’ll revise and reattempt. Or something.

* This is all complicated by M’s latest bout with really bad gas - for a couple of weeks now. It wakes her up at night, and between the gas and the reflux she’s not too keen on being put down in the crib. Though she does sleep just fine lying flat in bed with us. So it’s not the position, exactly.

Where was I?

You know that feeling where you haven’t posted in a long time, and then every time you try to write something you feel like you have so much news to cover you can’t possibly get through it all and then you get overwhelmed and stop before you’ve even started?

Or is it just me?

I have had this post sitting here for over a week, just waiting for me to finish, but I seem to have little in the way of free time or brain power, so it’s been sitting and gathering computer dust. I’m going to do what I can and try to be better about posting more frequently, if only so I don’t have to try to remember what happened over Thanksgiving (the kiddos looked marvelous and had fun being fawned over by so many adoring relatives) or how the cross-country flying was (tiring, but surprisingly smooth, all things considered, and we brought bottles of watered down juice for them to suck as needed) or the status of the security blanket items (I bought these and these and we’ll see what they end up liking), or how their 4 month checkup went (they’re so big! but the shots sucked and threw them off for a couple of days, and I think they’re still in the middle of a month(s) long sleep regression or something).

So now that we have that out of the way... what’s next? Sleep, actually. Both because I’m headed to bed after this, and because that’s what’s coming up in future postings. Call it Project Sleep. Or Sleep Week (like Shark Week, but scarier). The kiddos have never been especially good nappers, but things have slipped even further, and even our nighttimes, which have always involved several night nursings but used to at least start smoothly - have gone belly up. (due to our Thanksgiving travels? a four month sleep regression? I have no idea.) So I think we’re gearing up for a couple of weeks of sleep training/coaching/practice/whatever. It will begin... soon. I don’t actually know when, because that would depend on my having had time to read through the sleep books I’ve been skimming* and formulate a plan, and I used to do my reading after the kids went to bed, which they’re not doing as smoothly these days, so....

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* I read Weissbluth, and got some useful information out of it (it was the first place I read that we should be aiming for such an early first-nap), but can’t do the cry-it-out thing. I’m okay with them fussing a bit, but not full out crying. I’ve been reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution, which is nice in premise but a bit tough with twins, and the Sleep Lady book (Good Night, Sleep Tight) which seems a bit more do-able. So we’ll probably do some combination of methods. I’ll outline the plan once we have one.

What a long strange trip...

From this (December 2, 2004)

to this (December 9, 2005)

to this















(December 9, 2006).

Yes, I know I’ve been gone awhile. Longer post with updates in the works.