Saturday, April 5, 2014

The Sleep War

There are so many things that I could write about:


  • An update on Rylee's hemangioma - the ulcers are actually healing and it is doing much better at the moment.  So much better!
  • Rylee had an orthopedic therapy appointment this past week in an attempt to try getting her to eat better.  She is not eating well, and what she does eat gets puked up sometimes.  I don't know at this point if the appointment has helped.
  • Both babies have torticollis.  This may be a contributing factor to Rylee's eating problems, although Ayden has torticollis worse than she does.  He has a pretty extreme flat spot on the left side of his head.  It's possible he may have to wear a helmet.  It's also possibly the reason he cannot hold a pacifier in his mouth for very long.  We have a physical therapy appointment for both babies on Thursday.
  • The babies seem to have switched places.  Rylee now is a fairly happy baby and Ayden is pretty fussy.
Like I said, I have a lot of things I could write about that really deserve their own post.  But I am going to vent about our sleeping struggles.  Sigh....

The babies have been sleeping in their Rock n' Plays (RNP) since the first day we brought them home.  I'm giving you a very brief update on our sleeping arrangement to this point.  Our original plan was for them to sleep in our room in the RNP's.  That lasted about half a night.  We then moved them to the living room, which is where they've been ever since, with me sleeping on the couch.  It's not that Tony isn't willing to help with the babies at night, because he is.  It's just that my life is sooooo much better if he is not sleep deprived.  He gets extremely grumpy, and I'm to emotional (hormonal) to take it.  He also works long days with an 1:20 minute commute.  I'd rather him get his sleep.  The other reason this arrangement originated was because neither one of us was comfortable going to sleep without watching, or at least being close to the babies.  We were so afraid of one of them, or both, stopping breathing.  That's what being in the NICU does to you, with all those stupid alarms!  Okay, we really appreciated the alarms.  They just went off often enough to scare us.

What we've been doing for the past three months is that Tony would come home and take over at about 7:00pm and I would go to bed and sleep till about 11:00 or midnight.  Then he would come wake me up and I would move to the couch.  On the weekends, he would wait until around 1:00am and I would go back to bed in the morning for a long nap.

In the past few weeks, I've been really feeling tied down to this schedule.  Instead of being able to go for a walk, or run, or have family time in the evening with all of us, I was going to bed.  Instead of enjoying my weekend, I was sleeping half the days away.

In addition to that, Ayden has really started fighting sleep during the day.  He's not sleeping and he is becoming more and more cranky.  He used to be our happy go lucky, smiley baby!!!  What happened to him?  Well, he is flat out exhausted because he only takes 20-30 minute cat naps at a time during the day. An hour if I'm lucky.  That just doesn't cut it for a 3 month old, who is only one and a half month old adjusted.

I've come to the conclusion that it's time to start sleep training and moving these babies into their nursery and into their cribs.  I've read a few books on sleep training and swallowed up any other bloggers experiences in this department.  You know, learn from those that go before me and all that.  When it comes down to it though, we have no frickin clue as to what we are doing.  I don't want to resort to the cry it out method, but I have fast learned that them crying is unavoidable.  They are going to cry.  It seems they are going to cry no matter what we do.  Ayden especially.  He is so over tired and it seems there is nothing we can do.  We HAVE to get this sleep training thing down for his sake, and for our sanity.

With that said, once Ayden does finally settle down, he has been sleeping for about a 7 hour stretch in his crib.  I feed him and am able to put him back down in his crib.  He then sleeps for another 2-3 hours.  I feed him, and then put him back again in his crib for another couple hours.  Yay!  That's not a bad night once we finally get him to calm down and actually sleep!

Rylee seems to go down okay and can sleep through her brother's crying for a little while, but he eventually wakes her up.  We are a little more hesitant to let her cry for very long because she makes herself sick and ends up puking.  She did this the other night.  Thankfully, we were going in to get her because Tony found her choking on her vomit.  That didn't scare us or anything.  Big sigh.  However, she does usually tend to do okay and can put herself to sleep.  She did sleep in there through one night (with a couple feedings in between) and has taken a few nice long naps in there as well.

If only her brother would get on the same page.

I could bore you with the details of what we've been doing to put them down, but I won't right now.  Just know that we have declared war on this sleep thing, and this is one battle that I really, really hope that the parents have the perseverance and strength to compete for the long haul and come out the victor.  It would be a win win situation for all involved.  Now, if we could just get Ayden to agree....

Rylee's very first time napping in the crib.  It lasted 41 minutes.
Another nap and a not quite successful escape!
Ayden's first time going down in a crib, but he hi-jacked his sister's crib.
We've managed ONE nap in his crib.  He was put down length wise, but managed to turn himself to lay sideways!
*In case you are wondering why we don't swaddle Ayden, there are a few reasons.  1. I'm afraid to swaddle him in a blanket because he always manages to escape and I don't want that blanket in there with him.  No SIDS for us!  2. This big boy doesn't fit in the swaddlers with the velcro!  3. He hates being swaddled.

34 comments:

  1. Oh my!! I'm praying for well sleep trained babies in no time for you! PS- so many ppl are telling me that their twins slept in RNP's when first home- definitely making note of that :). XO

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  2. My daughter slept exclusively in the RNP for 5.5 months and my son in the swing for as long. Neither of my kids could tolerate being flat on their backs. I was okay with them sleeping in their rooms without us (strapped in), but we didn't have a NICU experience. I don't blame you for wanting to be with them while they are sleeping. Both my kids did pretty well until the 4 month wakeful hit and then it was pretty awful--waking every 1 to 2 hours. Being sleep deprived makes everything 100 times harder. I mean everything.

    It looks like A doesn't like to be swaddled. You might want to give magic Merlin's sleep suit a try. I did so out of despiration because I had to get Alice out of the RNP and the swaddle. It worked like a charm. It might be that his startle reflex is waking him up. The suit was $40 and worth every penny, but I found that her Patagonia snow suit (heavy fleece) worked just as well. You might want to give that a try first if you don't want to buy the suit.
    Good luck with the training. I never had he will-power to do it, but I didn't have two babies at once either. Hopefully all of you are getting more sleep soon.

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    1. Yeah, I've read about the sleep suits and would REALLY love to get one, but we simply can't afford it right now. We are so strapped from the bills of just getting pregnant, and now the hospital bills are rolling in... Ugh.

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    2. If you leave me a comment in my blog with your info (I will not publish it) I will send you ours. It's just sitting in the closet. It's yellow, so would work on a boy, and the larger size, so it should last him for awhile. I'd be happy to hopefully help you out. :-)

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    3. Heather, thank you so much for your incredible kindness! I am constantly amazed at the generosity of others that I have found through this blogging community. Things have actually been going much much better the last few days. Again, thank you SO much! It really means a lot that you would be willing to send me your sleep suit if needed.

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  3. P.S. I just read your explanation of why the swaddle doesn't work for A. The magic Merlin suit comes in two sizes, so the larger one might fit him well now. It's nice because you don't have to worry about a blanket getting loose.

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  4. For naps we do the babywise eat, play, sleep cycle. It was tough at first but being consistent paid off. My girls generally go down pretty easily at this point without having to make the cry it out. Good luck! It seems like as soon as you have something down the babies change and then everything else needs to adjust.

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    1. We did Babywise as well. The routine worked great for us!

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    2. I'm gonna have to look into Babywise. I've heard of it. Thank you for the suggestion!

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  5. Also, maybe look into chiropractic care for the babies to help with reflux, torticolis, and feeding issues. I started taking Lucy and it has made a HUGE difference. Just an idea.

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    1. Our pediatrician suggested that could maybe help. I'm not sure our insurance covers it though. Something to look into. Glad to know it helped Lucy! Gives me more reason to actually really consider it.

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  6. OH, ADORABLE PICTURES OF SLEEPING BABIES!!!! Prayers too you for winning the sleeping war!!!! So, very glad to hear that Rylee's bottom is healing! May you have success with the eating and sleeping issues soon!!!! My heart and prayers go out to all of you!!! Love, Auntie

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  7. I'm also going to suggest a chiropractor - it's a very gentle more like massage movement they do on babies. We also found grobags brilliant, but I can't remember the minimum age they recommend them for. Self soothing is crucial to me, so so happy to see the Fisher Price seahorse is already a member of your family. My two are 4.5 years and we still use these daily. If you haven't already, go for low light, gentle patting and no eye contact. You'll get there!!!

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  8. First of all, I am so happy to hear Rylee's ulcers are healing! I'm glad they are making progress in the sleep department. You are doing an awesome job, Mama!

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    1. Thanks Laura. This whole sleep thing is a challenge. Mostly just naps though.

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  9. Hi, I've been lurking around your blog for several months but never commented. I found your blog in the fall and was also pregnant with twins (2 girls) through IUI and had them in February. We also had a NICU experience they were in 30 and 32 days but are home now and doing great. We are also trying to figure out how to get more sleep as I feel like I am slowly dying lol. Hope you find something that works for you soon!

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    1. Thanks for commenting!!!! Congratulations on your new little ones joining your family. I'm sure you have having a great time with them, even while dying that slow death. As hard as this whole sleep training thing has been, it also is actually getting better too. Nights are great, but daytime naps seem to be impossible. Hopefully soon they all come together. Good luck to you!

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  10. Sleep stuff is SO hard. I can totally identify with your choice to do much of the nights by yourself in order to avoid a crabby husband. I do the exact same thing. I'd rather be tired than have him tired. Ugh...not fun. I think that what Ayden is doing now overnight sounds great! Seven hours straight sounds like great progress! Granted, you're still tired because you're not sleeping that exact seven hour stretch, but...progress. Also, SO glad to hear that Rylie's tush is doing better. What a major relief.

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    1. Exactly. I'd rather be tired than deal with a grizzly bear. Funny, but not really. The babies are actually sleeping great at night once they actually DO get to sleep. It's the getting there that has been super hard, in addition to the day time naps. Sigh.

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  11. I made sure to register for the RNP's ! You'll have to give me all of your sleep secrets once the boys are here. :) Good luck friend!

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    1. You will like the RNP's :) Sleep secrets....I have to learn them first! haha! I take all the tips I can from those that have gone before me, and I will gladly pass anything I can onto you as well!

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  12. No advice, just some internet hugs. Sleep is one of those things that you don't think about much until you aren't getting enough--and then it just makes everything horrible. Hopefully you can get on some sort of routine that allows you to get out to walk/run/whatever and still see your husband occasionally. Thinking of you, Amber!

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    1. Lilee, that means so much. You have no idea what your comment means to me. Knowing how much you struggle with your infertility and the fact that you choose to continue following my story is much appreciated. As you know, I was in your shoes as well. Hopefully your journey will end with little ones of your own running around!

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  13. Ohhh sleep. So damn hard and EVERYONE has an opinion. MY opinion is there is no magic solution and you need to do what works best for your family. I know that's not helpful....I'm just another mom in the trenches!

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    1. I am learning that you are right, there really is no magic solution. Eventually we will figure out what works best, but in the meantime, the babies get pretty crabby during the day because they don't fight going to sleep so much! Mostly Ayden. Thank you for letting me know I'm not alone!

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  14. Try developing a sleep cue. For my son we used a frog from Target that lights up and plays music. While getting him ready to lay down we would hit the music button and to this day (he is almost 3) it works to switch his brain into sleep mode.

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    1. We've been trying to read to them every night. I'm not sure that has been working though...

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  15. I hope that something works for you guys soon! There's absolutely nothing cuter than pictures of two sleeping babies.

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    1. I know, I can't help but stop and stare at them sometimes!

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  16. I can not even imagine not getting enough sleep. My bed time now is 8:30 so if I am ever blessed with a lil one talk about a game changer!! haha But I will gladly take it!! It sounds like you have some what of a routine worked out between you and the hubby but I'm sure it's still so very hard on you :( Thinking of you Amber.

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    1. It would be a game changer for sure, but I have no doubts you would be able to make the adjustments because you will be an excellent Momma!

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  17. I have no advice. Each baby is so different that I don't think one approach works. In some ways, I think I got lucky and my girls are decent sleepers. They have good nap days and bad nap days, of course. They also have nighttime sleep regressions. But, overall they do pretty well. We moved them to their cribs at around 4 1/2 months. We did have to let them cry it out a little while we were weaning them from using their pacifiers to go to sleep and now they usually go to sleep easily (at least at night) I started a routine of changing them into their pajamas and reading them a book and giving them a last bottle and they seem to finally be putting it all together. We also got them onto a nap schedule wich seems to help. They expect a nap at certain times now. Anyway, you will get there. It's great when you can get them on a predictable nap schedule. Good luck!!

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