Sleep

[jamer]

I'm sorry, that sounds terrible. I don't know if I should even talk about my daughter's sleep habits b/c they are pretty amazing and have been since she was 6 months old. I LOVE my sleep so I don't know how you do it...

[jennlin]

i keep thinking i'll get some sleep in 16 years or so...

[picksthemusic]

Mar 24, 2013 21:05:25 GMT -5 jamer said:

I'm sorry, that sounds terrible. I don't know if I should even talk about my daughter's sleep habits b/c they are pretty amazing and have been since she was 6 months old. I LOVE my sleep so I don't know how you do it...

This. M has been a great sleeper most of her life with few exceptions.

[Deleted]

I just finished reading somewhere today that by the time baby is a year old you will have lost approximately 2 months of sleep.

In our house I believe it... she still wakes up at least 1-2 times a night to nurse which takes at least 15 minutes.

[sarack]

this is one of the things i'm most terrified about. which is why I am starting to come around to my mom coming.. even if she drives me nuts. I think it would be good to have her help. so I can sleep.

[catbus]

Mar 25, 2013 20:39:16 GMT -5 sarack said:

this is one of the things i'm most terrified about. which is why I am starting to come around to my mom coming.. even if she drives me nuts. I think it would be good to have her help. so I can sleep.

It's really hard in the beginning, but some babies will sleep well pretty early on. E slept 4-5 hour stretches at night practically from day one. By six weeks or so (can't remember exactly) he was usually only waking once overnight to nurse, around 3-4 AM. He first completely STTN (8:30 PM-7 AM) at seven weeks, but it was totally sporadic--it would happen once every couple weeks. Then a little past three months he started doing it more and more frequently, until it was about half the time. In the past six weeks (since about 4.5 months) he's completely STTN almost every night, with a couple exceptions (schedule is now 7 PM-6:30 AM).

All babies are different, and it will depend on their temperament. And it's tougher with twins, obviously. But so far, fingers crossed, E has been great. We were consistent with a bedtime routine from the very beginning. He was in our room in a Pack-n-Play for the first three months, and is now in his crib in his room. Bedtime is the same every night. It was 8:30 for a while, then 8, then 7 at three months when he started daycare and was worn out every night. We got him used to falling asleep on his own (we'd lay him in the PnP, H would put a hand on E's chest, and I would sing to him until he was almost asleep; now we can do the same but leave while he's still awake and he'll soothe himself to sleep). We have not done any cry-it-out sleep training, but we do let him "fuss" if he wakes up in the middle of the night. If he starts truly crying, one of us goes in to soothe him back down.

Anyway, this got long. I found the sleep information in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Weissbluth very helpful. I have not read any of the sleep training stuff, just the actual information on sleep: what's "normal" and why it's important. Reading this while still pregnant was really helpful, because I still had the time and energy to think about what habits we wanted to develop, and discuss it all with H so we were on the same page.

And for coping in those super hard early weeks, definitely check out Happiest Baby on the Block. I read the book, but it really didn't need to be as long as it was. I had H watch the 30-minute DVD, and basically all the same information was in there. I should have just watched that first.

[jennlin]

sarack, my boss with twins says then when one baby is awake, wake the other one (maybe after a couple weeks or so....). that way you can try to set them on the same schedule.

[catbus]

Mar 26, 2013 10:30:12 GMT -5 jennlin said:

sarack, my boss with twins says then when one baby is awake, wake the other one (maybe after a couple weeks or so....). that way you can try to set them on the same schedule.

A friend of mine with twins did something similar. Everything is different with twins. I am all about feeding on demand and not waking a sleeping baby, but with twins? I'd be doing everything I could to sync them.

Weissbluth does have a twins book. No clue whether it's any good. www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Twins/dp/0345497791

[sarack]

Mar 26, 2013 11:03:51 GMT -5 catbus said:

Mar 26, 2013 10:30:12 GMT -5 jennlin said:

sarack, my boss with twins says then when one baby is awake, wake the other one (maybe after a couple weeks or so....). that way you can try to set them on the same schedule.

A friend of mine with twins did something similar. Everything is different with twins. I am all about feeding on demand and not waking a sleeping baby, but with twins? I'd be doing everything I could to sync them.

Weissbluth does have a twins book. No clue whether it's any good. www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Twins/dp/0345497791

i have this book. i need to read it.. along with the other 10 books i need to read, lol!

[jennlin]

i try not to look at a clock anymore when bjl wakes up. it's more depressing than anything. i just wake up in the morning and think back to about how many times she woke up (usually about two)..which sleeping for 6-7 hours for me, that is equivalent to approx every 2 hours.