Sleepers in the Night
The boys are sleeping better at night. During the day? Not so much. At night though, they keep moving closer to sleeping all the way until morning. I set them down at 9pm, and they consistently go past 3am before screaming for formula. That gives them six hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is the official standard of “sleeping through the night.” I’m waiting until they sleep until 7:30am, the time I intend for them to wake up, before formally declaring them “sleeping through the night.”
Usually they wake sometime between 3:30am and 4am. Sometimes they go a little past 4am. This morning they waited until 5am before waking, giving them a record eight straight hours of sleep, or at least giving me eight straight hours that I didn’t have to tend to them. That would let me catch a full night’s sleep if I were talented enough to go to bed as soon as I set the twins down, which I’m not. Nighttime is the best time for internet time. Plus, who wakes up at 5am? Besides people who actually contribute to the GDP of course.
We still put them in a Pack ‘N Play in the living room for the night. I’d like to set up separate Pack ‘N Plays for them, but we’d need to clear some space first. The most expendable object in the living room is the television though, and without it we couldn’t mock Kellie Pickler every Tuesday and Wednesday night. Eventually the boys will sleep in Abbie’s room at night, but I’m waiting until they’re consistently sleeping through the night before trying that so the boys don’t wake Abbie at 4am as well. I’m sure we’ll have enough problems with Abbie waking the boys while prowling the room before falling asleep herself.
If the boys are like Abbie, they may be in the living room for several more months. I think Abbie was about ten-months-old before she consistently slept through the night. She started sleeping all night around three months, but started waking again for food around six months. I kept her nighttime gravy train flowing for about three months before introducing her to diminished milk quantities and the “cry it out method.” She’s slept all night ever since except for the occasional nightmare, vomit episode, or fall from bed.
We tried making all three sleep in the same room Sunday night. We had company requiring the use of the living room that night, and figured we’d see what would happen. It took more teamwork and coordination than the Cubs usually show, but Ellie and I managed to prepare all three children for bed simultaneously, and set them all down at almost the same time. We shut the door and waited for the worst. Maybe one of the boys would scream from the terror of spending the night in a different place. Maybe Abbie would crawl into one of their cribs. Maybe she’d spend a few minutes poking someone through the bars just to see what would happen.
Instead everyone fell asleep without so much as a complaint. Everyone stayed asleep until 4am too, at which point Tory decided it was formula time. I promptly removed him, and the other two stayed asleep while I prepared bottles. After feeding the two of them, I returned them to their room even though I could have laid them back in the living room just to see what would happen. The boys fell back asleep quickly, and Abbie never woke up.
I thought we had a new arrangement; that I could take down the Pack ‘N Play, reclaim the living room floor, and have everyone sleep in the same room. Then Tory took the unusual step of fussing at 6am when he usually sleeps until at least 7:30am after his feeding. I stuck his pacifier in to calm him back down to sleep before anyone else woke up. Then he woke again at 7am. When Ellie went in to calm him down, Abbie tore out of the room laughing. I could have gotten up with everybody at that point, but I had another half-hour of sleep coming to me. Plus, who wakes up at 7am?
Usually they wake sometime between 3:30am and 4am. Sometimes they go a little past 4am. This morning they waited until 5am before waking, giving them a record eight straight hours of sleep, or at least giving me eight straight hours that I didn’t have to tend to them. That would let me catch a full night’s sleep if I were talented enough to go to bed as soon as I set the twins down, which I’m not. Nighttime is the best time for internet time. Plus, who wakes up at 5am? Besides people who actually contribute to the GDP of course.
We still put them in a Pack ‘N Play in the living room for the night. I’d like to set up separate Pack ‘N Plays for them, but we’d need to clear some space first. The most expendable object in the living room is the television though, and without it we couldn’t mock Kellie Pickler every Tuesday and Wednesday night. Eventually the boys will sleep in Abbie’s room at night, but I’m waiting until they’re consistently sleeping through the night before trying that so the boys don’t wake Abbie at 4am as well. I’m sure we’ll have enough problems with Abbie waking the boys while prowling the room before falling asleep herself.
If the boys are like Abbie, they may be in the living room for several more months. I think Abbie was about ten-months-old before she consistently slept through the night. She started sleeping all night around three months, but started waking again for food around six months. I kept her nighttime gravy train flowing for about three months before introducing her to diminished milk quantities and the “cry it out method.” She’s slept all night ever since except for the occasional nightmare, vomit episode, or fall from bed.
We tried making all three sleep in the same room Sunday night. We had company requiring the use of the living room that night, and figured we’d see what would happen. It took more teamwork and coordination than the Cubs usually show, but Ellie and I managed to prepare all three children for bed simultaneously, and set them all down at almost the same time. We shut the door and waited for the worst. Maybe one of the boys would scream from the terror of spending the night in a different place. Maybe Abbie would crawl into one of their cribs. Maybe she’d spend a few minutes poking someone through the bars just to see what would happen.
Instead everyone fell asleep without so much as a complaint. Everyone stayed asleep until 4am too, at which point Tory decided it was formula time. I promptly removed him, and the other two stayed asleep while I prepared bottles. After feeding the two of them, I returned them to their room even though I could have laid them back in the living room just to see what would happen. The boys fell back asleep quickly, and Abbie never woke up.
I thought we had a new arrangement; that I could take down the Pack ‘N Play, reclaim the living room floor, and have everyone sleep in the same room. Then Tory took the unusual step of fussing at 6am when he usually sleeps until at least 7:30am after his feeding. I stuck his pacifier in to calm him back down to sleep before anyone else woke up. Then he woke again at 7am. When Ellie went in to calm him down, Abbie tore out of the room laughing. I could have gotten up with everybody at that point, but I had another half-hour of sleep coming to me. Plus, who wakes up at 7am?
posted by Matt at
11:00 PM
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