Thursday, December 21, 2006

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.

2 comments:

  1. Aahhh, the elusive sleep. I will be interested to hear what methods you end up using to get your babies back on track. Mine are far from sleeping through the night as well as being inconsistent nappers, so we're much in the same boat. I had always said that we'd cry it out, but when it comes down to it I'm not as strong as I thought. It goes against the very core of my being to deny my babies food, even if they're not supposed to be hungry in the middle of the night. Keep us posted, and good luck getting some zzzzzz's.

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  2. I'm very curious to see how it goes for you! We're thinking we'll start sleep training after the holidays, around 4 months. I agree, all of the books are so hard to imagine doing with twins... Funny thing that happened to us, we drove 10 hours to the in laws, then my MIL said, just put them down, they don't need help going to sleep... and in the pack and play, they went right to sleep, no crying, then woke up to nurse less frequently than at home. Of course, the next night it was back to usual 2 hours to nurse and comfort them down, and more frequent wakings, so I guess it was the car ride that somehow settled them. too bad we can't drive 10 hours every day.

    yes, good luck with your training. I am anxious to learn what works for you.

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