Awakenings
The twins are on a strict three-hour schedule during the day. I wake them up, feed them, keep them awake for a while, set them back down to nap, and repeat everything three hours later.
It’s usually pretty mindless work, just labor intensive; like delivering a senate filibuster, I just have to be a warm body who stays awake to make sure nothing bad happens. An outsider may thing that making them sleep is the hard part, but it’s actually quite simple. I wait until they look sleepy, and then put them down to sleep. If they wake up before feeding time, I give them a minute to see if they’ll go back down on their own, and then give them a pacifier if they persist in complaining, or sound as furious as a six-pound baby with no head control is capable of sounding. In extreme cases of insomnia, I activate their bed’s vibrating function.
The hard part is keeping them awake. Though it’s fading fast as they age, they still have remnants of their newborn narcolepsy, the kind that makes them fall asleep and stay asleep unless they happen to be in a location where you want them to be quiet, such as in church or in their crib. The schedule dictates that I keep them awake for several minutes after feeding, and then put them to sleep drowsy but not asleep. The idea is to make them learn to fall asleep without relying on being held or fed so that when they wake in the middle of the night, they can fall back asleep without intervention. The schedule’s creators may also be sadists who enjoy torturing newborns, but it worked for Abbie so I’m using it with the twins.
My first tool to wake them is to take their legs out of their sleepers. The cooler air surrounds their legs, chills their bodies, and keeps them awake, or at least that’s the idea. That tool rarely works for me, but at least it gives me easy access to the next tool, which is merciless tickling. Feet are the natural target, but I go after the entire exposed leg: Toes, thighs, backs of the knees, anything to open those eyes. Unfortunately* their legs are starting to add fat, insulating them from my twitching fingers.
My next step is to bounce them on my knee. They’re very young for bouncing, so I need to be gentle and support their bodies with extra attention given to their heads, but this one almost always exposes eyeballs. I usually try singing a nursery rhyme to them called “Trot to Boston,” which is about a horse, a horse who trots to Boston. The song might not do much for the twins, but it keeps Abbie entertained and away from our breakable objects.
As a last resort, I rub their chests and backs. I use my fingers to pry right between their ribs; it’s like I’m giving them a massage, except instead of relaxing them, it ticks them off. This one works in all but the most extreme cases, but I have to use it sparingly; I’m trying to keep them awake, not make them hate me for life.
When all else fails, when I’ve unzipped, and tickled, and trotted, and rubbed, and I still can’t see eyeballs, I lay them down in their crib. Not because I’m giving up, but because I know nothing wakes a baby better than being in his crib.
* Unfortunately for me; fortunately for them.
It’s usually pretty mindless work, just labor intensive; like delivering a senate filibuster, I just have to be a warm body who stays awake to make sure nothing bad happens. An outsider may thing that making them sleep is the hard part, but it’s actually quite simple. I wait until they look sleepy, and then put them down to sleep. If they wake up before feeding time, I give them a minute to see if they’ll go back down on their own, and then give them a pacifier if they persist in complaining, or sound as furious as a six-pound baby with no head control is capable of sounding. In extreme cases of insomnia, I activate their bed’s vibrating function.
The hard part is keeping them awake. Though it’s fading fast as they age, they still have remnants of their newborn narcolepsy, the kind that makes them fall asleep and stay asleep unless they happen to be in a location where you want them to be quiet, such as in church or in their crib. The schedule dictates that I keep them awake for several minutes after feeding, and then put them to sleep drowsy but not asleep. The idea is to make them learn to fall asleep without relying on being held or fed so that when they wake in the middle of the night, they can fall back asleep without intervention. The schedule’s creators may also be sadists who enjoy torturing newborns, but it worked for Abbie so I’m using it with the twins.
My first tool to wake them is to take their legs out of their sleepers. The cooler air surrounds their legs, chills their bodies, and keeps them awake, or at least that’s the idea. That tool rarely works for me, but at least it gives me easy access to the next tool, which is merciless tickling. Feet are the natural target, but I go after the entire exposed leg: Toes, thighs, backs of the knees, anything to open those eyes. Unfortunately* their legs are starting to add fat, insulating them from my twitching fingers.
My next step is to bounce them on my knee. They’re very young for bouncing, so I need to be gentle and support their bodies with extra attention given to their heads, but this one almost always exposes eyeballs. I usually try singing a nursery rhyme to them called “Trot to Boston,” which is about a horse, a horse who trots to Boston. The song might not do much for the twins, but it keeps Abbie entertained and away from our breakable objects.
As a last resort, I rub their chests and backs. I use my fingers to pry right between their ribs; it’s like I’m giving them a massage, except instead of relaxing them, it ticks them off. This one works in all but the most extreme cases, but I have to use it sparingly; I’m trying to keep them awake, not make them hate me for life.
When all else fails, when I’ve unzipped, and tickled, and trotted, and rubbed, and I still can’t see eyeballs, I lay them down in their crib. Not because I’m giving up, but because I know nothing wakes a baby better than being in his crib.
* Unfortunately for me; fortunately for them.
posted by Matt at
10:02 PM
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