So I figured out why the last week or so hasn't been working for us. I've been responding to the girls too quickly!
Today, they woke up after a half hour and I rolled my eyes and decided, screw it, they're fine, they don't sound unhappy, they can just sit there until either I finish my lunch or they start sounding upset. I looked at the monitor when I finished my lunch and they were asleep again! They were asleep for another solid hour!
Duh! I can't believe I've been stuck in this cycle of only a half hour per nap when if left to their own devices, they would sleep for about 90 minutes.
This feels like the moment when I discovered that Tina will resist sleep for as long as she knows I'm around, but if I leave completely, she'll nod off quickly. I felt like a horrible mom when I would step outside to clear my head because she wouldn't go to sleep in those first months until I realized that me being outside for 5 minutes was more productive to her sleep than me trying to soothe her for an hour.
Well now apparently me going to get them as soon as both are clearly awake and chatting with each other isn't the best move either! I felt like a real jerk today making them wait for a while but I guess it's what I should have been doing all along. I bet they'll be awake a lot longer before showing tired signs now that they've taken a long nap.
Live and Learn. They'll have you trained soon enough.
ReplyDeleteI also felt like a jerk the time I walked away from Banana who was just not going to sleep but obviously tired. I took a few minutes to just be away from that irritating situation and then suddenly she was quiet and it turns out she fell asleep! Revelation!
ReplyDeleteI've tried leaving them in their cribs until they escalate. Sometimes they do fall back to sleep, which is amazing. It's risky, though, if one of them escalates and the other wants to sleep, they both end up awake. But it sucks being a twin sometimes, I guess...!
I just found your blog...like moments ago...but oh my gosh! Yes! I don't like to hear my girls cry and try to keep them from crying it out, but after an hour or two of trying to comfort them in my arms to no avail (fed, diapered, burped, etc) and I "accidentally" put them down in order to prevent me from loosing my mind and just let them cry for a few minutes and they go to sleep. Apparantly, my babies just need to cry for 5-10 minutes to go to sleep and my holding them only prolongs the process and stresses me out. So all the stuff about CIO has the potential to make me feel guilty, but that's not works for my babies. So glad I am not the only one who had this sort of epiphany! Nice to "meet" you! I'll be following you from now on.
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