When Two Become Three
A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I’m phasing out the twins’ early evening nap and down to a two nap a day schedule. I was implementing a well-designed plan to slowly extend their wake time until the twins stayed awake so long their nap disappeared.
The twins didn’t care about my plan; they wanted their nap. I abandoned my plan for now when I realized that no matter how long or late they napped in the afternoon, they would still nap in the evening. They’d fall asleep even if they just woke from a three-hour nap 90-minutes ago.
My first clue on their reluctance to stay awake came when I would leave them on the floor while changing Abbie, and find them asleep when I returned. Since I’m not the most absorbent diaper in the jumbo mega package, I figured they’d move in and out of three-nap territory before happily settling into a two-nap routine and continued with the plan. My big clue came when they were extremely fussy one night from what I presume to be lack of sleep. Not that I figured out that they wanted to nap that night; I spent more than a solid hour trying comfort two simultaneously screaming babies by myself while running down the usual list of causes: Teething? Gas? Abbie gouge them really good while I wasn’t looking? Only after decompressing with a good, stiff internet session followed by a solid four hours of sleep did I think “Huh, maybe they just wanted to nap.” I imagine that police and military officers are the only people who have to make more difficult decisions in more stressful situations than a parent with a screaming child, and that’s partially because they occasionally have to deal with strangers’ screaming children on their jobs.
I’ve kept them on a three-nap schedule ever since, setting them down an hour-and-a-half after waking them from their afternoon nap. They may only nap for half-an-hour, but it keeps them content and me sane.
I still have the plan ready when they’re ready, but for now the aftermath of that third nap provides the best chance to spoon-feed them. I can use Ellie’s help while training them to eat from a spoon, and she’s at least occasionally home for the evening feeding instead of almost never home for the earlier feedings. I’d like to concentrate on one child while spoon-feeding to make sure he’s eating at his preferred pace, keeping a high swallowed-to-dribbled ratio on each spoonful, not choking, and other important one-on-one interactions that I can’t do by myself. Plus I’d like to feed each baby from his own spoon and bowl, but that’s too hard to do while feeding both of them. I just feed both of them from one bowl with the same spoon, which makes me feel silly every time I worry about mixing up their pacifiers.
That third nap also keeps them calm for the spoon-feeding, which is important until they realize the spoon is bringing sustenance. I remember Abbie always woke from screaming from her naps. She always fell asleep screaming too, but that’s a different story. I could always calm her down by shoveling a few spoonfuls of cereal slurry into her mouth, which she would swallow and realize that I wasn’t trying to starve her to death. The twins are usually content when they wake, but I tried the shovel method with the boys the other day when they were angry and apparently hungry. Not getting a bottle combined with the strange milk-like substance that kept appearing in their mouths only made them angrier. After a few futile minutes, I unstrapped them and bottle-fed until they calmed down. It took a few minutes of crying, but I guess that’s what I get for trying to steal their nap.
The twins didn’t care about my plan; they wanted their nap. I abandoned my plan for now when I realized that no matter how long or late they napped in the afternoon, they would still nap in the evening. They’d fall asleep even if they just woke from a three-hour nap 90-minutes ago.
My first clue on their reluctance to stay awake came when I would leave them on the floor while changing Abbie, and find them asleep when I returned. Since I’m not the most absorbent diaper in the jumbo mega package, I figured they’d move in and out of three-nap territory before happily settling into a two-nap routine and continued with the plan. My big clue came when they were extremely fussy one night from what I presume to be lack of sleep. Not that I figured out that they wanted to nap that night; I spent more than a solid hour trying comfort two simultaneously screaming babies by myself while running down the usual list of causes: Teething? Gas? Abbie gouge them really good while I wasn’t looking? Only after decompressing with a good, stiff internet session followed by a solid four hours of sleep did I think “Huh, maybe they just wanted to nap.” I imagine that police and military officers are the only people who have to make more difficult decisions in more stressful situations than a parent with a screaming child, and that’s partially because they occasionally have to deal with strangers’ screaming children on their jobs.
I’ve kept them on a three-nap schedule ever since, setting them down an hour-and-a-half after waking them from their afternoon nap. They may only nap for half-an-hour, but it keeps them content and me sane.
I still have the plan ready when they’re ready, but for now the aftermath of that third nap provides the best chance to spoon-feed them. I can use Ellie’s help while training them to eat from a spoon, and she’s at least occasionally home for the evening feeding instead of almost never home for the earlier feedings. I’d like to concentrate on one child while spoon-feeding to make sure he’s eating at his preferred pace, keeping a high swallowed-to-dribbled ratio on each spoonful, not choking, and other important one-on-one interactions that I can’t do by myself. Plus I’d like to feed each baby from his own spoon and bowl, but that’s too hard to do while feeding both of them. I just feed both of them from one bowl with the same spoon, which makes me feel silly every time I worry about mixing up their pacifiers.
That third nap also keeps them calm for the spoon-feeding, which is important until they realize the spoon is bringing sustenance. I remember Abbie always woke from screaming from her naps. She always fell asleep screaming too, but that’s a different story. I could always calm her down by shoveling a few spoonfuls of cereal slurry into her mouth, which she would swallow and realize that I wasn’t trying to starve her to death. The twins are usually content when they wake, but I tried the shovel method with the boys the other day when they were angry and apparently hungry. Not getting a bottle combined with the strange milk-like substance that kept appearing in their mouths only made them angrier. After a few futile minutes, I unstrapped them and bottle-fed until they calmed down. It took a few minutes of crying, but I guess that’s what I get for trying to steal their nap.
posted by Matt at
10:53 PM
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