Sunday, March 22, 2009
A Great Night of Sleep
After very short naps yesterday, both babies were extremely tired & cranky yesterday! We had a comment on our blog yesterday from the Sharum's and we decided to let them sleep in their bouncy seats so that they would stay elevated. Wow, what a difference that made! They were asleep at 8:00 pm and slept until 9:00 am with two feedings in between...much better than the previous night!! We are about to attempt to move them to their own cribs at night and I am really dreading it! Since birth they have slept next to our bed in a Pack-n-Play, but this past week or so have really been waking each other up. The paci issue is what is the big problem. When they are next to the bed, I can just reach over & stick it back in their mouths, but in their own room it is going to be a whole new story! It is Cooper mainly, but he sucks that thing so hard that it pops out of his mouth all the time. For the first hour or so after we put him down, everytime that paci pops out of his mouth he crys. Once he gets to sleep, he either doesn't suck so hard or is okay with it not in his mouth. I try not to give it to him when I put him down to avoid the issue, but he usually fusses for it shortly after lying down. If anyone would like to share stories or advice about transitioning your baby or babies to their crib or issues with their pacis, please share! I could use any advice you would like to give!!!
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19 comments:
No great advice here. I put the boys in their room at about the same age as your babies are now. They were starting to wake eachother up too. But, I did put them in the same crib. There was more room, and they did fine together in their room. They stayed in a crib together until they were about 10 months old. As for the paci thing, good luck. Caroline was an obsessed paci sucker. It was the best day of my life when she learned to put it back in her mouth by herself! Good luck with your transition. I hope it goes smoothly for you.
Ava has been in her crib since a/b 2 weeks old, and at first she would wake up and a pacifier seemed to be the only thing to soothe her. We started playing a lullaby CD and it really helped lull her to sleep. We still do it occasionally if she wakes up in the middle of the night. When she got a little older (4 months or so) and woke up in the middle of the night, a pacifier seemed to soother her, but like you said, it's no fun going to their room to put in a pacifier in the middle of the night. We finally started letting her cry it out just a little. It was REALLY HARD the first night or two, but after that, she learned how to put herself back to sleep, and we're all better off for it. The first night we let her cry for about 15 mins, 10 the next, and it just kept dwindling. Now if she wakes up, she's usually back asleep in just a couple minutes. We never let her cry terribly hard, and although it was awful listening to her, it was the only way to get her to go back to sleep on her own. Otherwise I think we'd still be fighting it. I'm sure you'll get lots of advice - good luck on finding what works for you!!
Not sure about great advice, but I actually am a big fan of a soothing object -- not a paci. I actually encouraged my daughter to suck her thumb instead of a paci and at 5 no signs of mouth damage per the dentist. She never really sucked on it very hard though. Anywho, back to the soothing object--a blanky. Small 12 x 12 often refered to minkys or travel silkies. worked WONDERS for us. at night, when she woke up, she could just feel for the silky material and pull it close to her. She still sleeps with one today. It was great for in the car when I was driving, if she was upset, I could get her blanky to her and she would instantly calm down. The 1st blanky I gave her, I slept with for a few nights then gave it to her. So to sum all that up, self soothing is key and if they can not get that paci back in their mouths, then they need something easier. Good luck!
Hi. I came across your blog through another blog and I check it often to see your sweet babies. I don't really have any advice and I only have one little 10 month old girl so I am not sure about how two would be but I put my daughter in her crib at exactly 6 weeks old and she has been sleeping all night long since that exact day. She really preferred her crib and still does over anywhere else to sleep. I considered this a miracle and I am sure it could happen for you as well. I was scared to move her but you can always go back if you think it is not time yet. I will say a little prayer for you and this transition. It might work like a charm. As for the paci...my daughter never took one so not sure how that will work. Good luck! God Bless.
I wish I had advice, my daugther hates her crib and screams so loud when she goes in there! She sleeps with us a lot which i have not minded but now my husband and I are both starting to mind! So we are working on it not! I think she is really ready for a big bed now!!
Every baby is different. I let my babies sleep in the bed with dh and I until they wean, which is usually around 1 year. #2 I encouraged him to suck his thumb and regret it as he is now 8 and we've JUST gotten him to stop. His adult teeth are now crooked and he'll need braces. #3 I never gave him a paci. Ever. I nursed on demand and he never had that extra need to suck. #4 I gave him a paci around 6 mos and he loved it. Breaking him from the paci (which was just recently at 2.5 yrs.) was SO much easier than the thumb. The older he (Cooper) gets the easier it'll be. He is still so young and will wake once that paci is gone. #4 is a blanket baby as well. #5, we'll, I've never given him a paci either.. at least not yet. LOL
Honestly, if having them by your bed is easier for you.. then why stop? They could just be going through a growth spurt hence the extra night waking/hunger. I'm all for making my life easier and if that means the little are in my room, so be it. :D As long as your dh is ok with it, of course.
We have a crib in our room as well as a toddler bed. When transitioning to the crib, it makes things so much easier for both my child and myself by having it in the same room. And that way they aren't scared from being in a dark room by themselves. Once they transition to the crib and at the right age, we move them to their own room. We keep a toddler bed in our room in case someone has a bad dream or gets scared.
Again, every child is different and every parent has a different way of doing thing. Different parenting styles. The above is what works for our family. We've tried many things and this is what works for us. You may have to do the same thing.. try many things to see what works best for you and your kids. :)
xoxo
If would have been up to me, Brock would still be in our room.haha! But seriously, I started putting him in his crib for naps during the day early on and then after his 2 month check up I started putting him to bed in there at night. It was hard and I worried so much with him being so "far" from my side. Just take your time and experiment,maybe start there for half the night and after their feedings if they don't do well put them in the pack and play. I bet they do fine though, Brock seemed more comfy in his crib and wasn't disturbed by our noises. As for the paci, I didn't want Brock to "depend" on it for sleep because it got to that point where I was waking up a million times just to go put that paci back in him mouth. He needs to learn to sleep w/out a prop. Maybe something else to soothe him..like a small blankie. Something that smells like momma. It is hard, but we just got rid of the paci completely at 3 or 4 months. Baby Whisperer talks a lot about sleep props and really helped me to get rid of it, and I am so glad that I did. Do what works best for you and the babies though, it will all fall into place in time.:)
Mary Kate,
I have been following your blog for awhile now...but this is my first time to comment. Your babies are adorable.
My advice would be to let them cry it out. That is what I did with my son. Since you have 2, I would do one at a time. I made sure my son was not hungry or wet (i.e., it had to be the darn paci)and I let him self soothe. It is really hard but by the third night it was ALOT better. I plan to do the same with any future babies....
Mary (Oxley) Dominguez
I have 6 1/2 month old twin boys. The boys slept together in the same crib since we brought them home. They slept on those elevated things you put in cribs because they had SO much mucus and after every feeding they had to be elevated because if they weren't it would just start coming out their nose and mouth. It was very scary and they were ALWAYS having to be suctioned out. I have found keeping them elevated now when they have congestion etc. they do much better. They moved to their own cribs at around 3 months and HAVE to sleep on their tummies or they won't sleep. The Dr. said that was fine as long as they had good head control. The paci issue was HUGE. I would literally be standing over their beds and holding them in their mouths for hours at a time! Everyone thought I was crazy! But they would scream every time it popped out! Magically one day they discovered their fingers and are big time finger/thumb suckers. SO NO MORE PACIS!!!Hopefully they will soon discover their fingers. I haven't given much thought to the whole teeth issue as I am just happy to not have to stand over their crib all night long at the moment. Sorry not any advice just our experiences so far. BTW, did you recently get an invite to the thing that the N.I.C.U. is having next month? Our boys were born Sept 1 and spent 22 days in the unit.Isn't Dr. Colosso the best?
My children both went into their own rooms from the day we brought them home. With baby monitors you can hear everything. Both of mine took the paci. My son had trouble at first keeping it in his mouth so I used a baby facecloth through the ring to hold it in place until he would grab onto it. I think that once they are in their own room and the paci falls out then you should let him cry for a little while to see if he can soothe himself. Just remember a paci is easier to give up than a thumb
Unfortunately I have no good advice. Braden didn't take a nunnie (paci) and Garrett's needs have been wiped out of my mind, since that's where I stayed the whole time he was an infant! Two in diapers is difficult enough, but one who's completely mobile, agile, and, well, you get the picture...
Garrett was addicted to his nunnie and wouldn't give it up until after he was two. I just don't remember how we got through those nights when he lost it. Both boys slept in their crib in their own room from their first day home, though. I guess I just got up, trapsed across the house, plugged it back in and stumbled back to bed. Weird...I really don't remember! :0) Hope they are feeling better!
We close on the house either this Friday or next Tuesday, depending on when the paperwork comes in from the bank. We are totally psyched!
I think the sooner you transition them, the better. We had our daughter in a bassinet until she was 4 weeks but then we discovered that she did better sleeping in her crib where it was quiet and dark. We usually read before we go to bed and we were keeping her up in a sense. It was SO hard for me, I had my ears glued to the baby monitor for the first week. Our daughter did the same thing with her binky too, what I learned was if I let her fuss for a good 5 minutes or so, she would get tired and then I would go stick her binky back in and she would fall asleep almost instantly. I used to go in and put it back every 30 seconds because I hated hearing her cry but now this method works every time. It took her a long time to be able to keep her binky in...now she can put it back in herself if she can find it. Crazy.
My sister-in-law took Jackson's paci away early on and gave him a 'slicky'. One of those blankets lined in satin material. She was told that since Jackson can't put his paci back in his mouth in the middle of the night, he needs something he can grab and that he sees as his 'security item', so she switched to the slicky and that's what he has slept with every since. When he wakes up in the night, he just grabs his little blanket or when she puts him down for a nap, he wants that blanket. :) You might try it, once you're ready to take the paci away.
((HUGS))
oh Mary Kate I know how you feel. Jackson was ADDICTED to his paci... i dealt with that night after night. i remember vividly just standing over his crib crying and putting that paci back in 1 million times. i, too, had to get him out of the bassinett in our room. he was such a LOUD sleeper. the only thing that worked for me during that time as to swaddle him so tight that i swaddled the paci in too... so that if it fell out it was still right there for him to suck on. other than that i seriously considered duct tape! KIDDING... but someone needs to invent some way to keep those suckers in. when they are ~7 months old they can then find it and put it back in! until then i just cried with them... ~heidi
I'm so glad the bouncy chairs worked!! Now that my boys are almost 4 it's hard for me to remember the transition from pack n play to crib. I'm guessing I didn't have any problems, but I'm like Jenna. My twins slept with each other for a long while. They're were just used to always being together. It's very sweet watching twins grow up together. Just wait until they start talking "twin talk". Now that is truly something!!
I remember that stage. I actually moved Luke first because Taylor was a restless sleeper and was waking him up. She was also the one who needed a paci to sleep. I too would lean over and put it back in when she woke. I think Luke was 5 months when I put him in the nursery in his own crib and Taylor followed a month later to her separate crib in the nersery. I worked on her to be able to put her pacifier back in herself for that month and it wasn't without some crying but it seemed to work out well. My doc recommended a book called "solve your child's sleep problems" Teaching them to soothe themselves back to sleep. It's tough but worth it in the end. Good luck. For me emotionally I didn't want to move them from my bedside and a video monitor did wonders for me to be able to sleep. ;)
aawwwwhhh...the struggles of mommyhood. Evan slept with us until Ella was born, then Ella slept with us until she was 5.years.old! We loved every second of it, even though it seemed to make everyone else (all our friends and family) crazy. At my house...you get sleep however you can get it, and if that meant a baby in the bed, so be it. Just do what works for you...and don't rush things, because before you know it...they'll be off to kindergarten. As for the passies, my kids were serious passy girls and I couldn't have survived without them. Since they were in the bed with us...we didn't have the same issue, but at work..I'm all about swaddling them and the passy up tight, then if it falls out, it's usually right by their mouth and they can get ahold of it pretty easily.
I feel for ya, girl. You are a great mommy....don't doubt yourself!
What about getting him the pacimal. They sell it at Goores baby store.
http://www.goores.com/goores/product.asp?s%5Fid=0&pf%5Fid=PADCAAHDDIANFOGI&mscssid=PAOHADHPCBDFNCFK++++++++++++++++
It keeps the pacifier in there mouth
anonymous with twin boys...please email me at mk.webb@me.com...i would love to talk to you since you live in this area and have twins! yes, dr. colosso is amazing & yes we were invited to the NICU party!!
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