When did you sleep????

Me and DH are trying to figure out some kind of schedule where we can both sleep if even for just 4 hours at a pop and its just not working out.....

Re: When did you sleep????

Unfortunately we did not get to sleep much the first couple of months. My daughters came home at 7 weeks and were sttn at 11 weeks. Those 4 weeks were gosh darn terrible.

People use to say so sleep when they sleep during the day. I know you have an older child and that will be difficult to do.

Feed them both at the same time by proping them up on a boppy (you will not be holding them at all). hold a bottle with one hand and feed them both at the same time. Thios way one of you can sleep through a feeding.

If one baby eats, the other must also.

My advice is to try to get them to STTn as earlya s possible (of course not now they are too little). I followed Dr Ferber's book and it worked for us.

Good Luck... it is very very diffuclt.... I am here to FM any time.

Re: When did you sleep????

Thanks!! So far its do-able but Im gettign worn down. Im trying to find the best schedule. DH will get up for feedings at night, and we are trying to decide, should I go to bed at like 6pm and him be on duty till say 12 am or vice versa etc....that type of thing ya know?

Pretty much impossible to sleep during the day when they nap with my 2 yr old like you said.

Im so curious how others managed it.

Re: When did you sleep????

I hardly slept at all and when I did, it was from sheer exhaustion. My mom used to come over around noon and I would shower and then take a snooze. Then around 6 weeks I would send them to my mil's for an afternoon on Sundays. I would sleep then.

I did though, have them on a schedule pretty early (although I wasn't very good with feeding them at the same time) They sell really cool bottle props now that make life easier.

Whenever anyone offers to come over and help out, take it!

Re: When did you sleep????

Yeah I hardly got any sleep back in the early days. I would go to bed very early!!

Since this was all new to me I didnt feed them at the same time what I tried to do was feed them about 30 minutes apart so as I was putting one down the other one would wake up for a feeding so I would only spend about an hour feeding them and then manage to get about 2-2/12 hours sleep in between feedings.

They were around 10 weeks old when they started to sleep longer.

Re: When did you sleep????

My boys unfortunately never napped at the same time during the day so I could never nap when they were napping. I am at a loss b/c my boys at 8 months still don't sleep through the night. UGH. . . In the beginning, I would go to sleep after the 11pm feeding and my husband would do the 2am feeding himself and then I would get up at 5 and he would then go to sleep for a few hours.

Re: When did you sleep????

I usually try to go to sleep around 7 or 8 and DH stays up til midnite with the kids and I get up to do the feedings after midnite since he has to work. Feeding 2 at the same time is a piece if cake its when baby #3 wakes up them I am screwed....lol somebody is always waiting to eat since they are pretty much on the same schedule. I cant wait til they sttn.

Re: When did you sleep????

This is what I am not looking forward to. My other two are still waking during the night with two newborns I am going to be a walking zombie and I work full time.

Re: When did you sleep????

My twins were on a routine from pretty early. What helps the most is that I always feed them at the same time, putting them in their cribs from day one and putting them down awake. It's funny because those were all things that I heard when I had my first son but I didn't listen to.

Re: When did you sleep????

mine have always been on the same schedule, feeding them at the same time will give you a little bit of abreak.

What I used to do was go to bed early, and DH would be on baby duty. I'd turn off the monitor and go to sleep. This way I could get 4-5 hrs of uninterrupted sleep.

Re: When did you sleep????

This was the hardest part. Just keep reminding yourself that will get better!

Re: When did you sleep????

Feed them at the same time..if you could prop the bottles that's great...it will save you time. To this day, I am still having a hard time with that...my kids are so fidgety and the bottle ends up on the floor most of the time. Unfortunately, there was a lot of tough love. Once one was done, into the crib they went. For the most part, they fell asleep. My dh and I tried the whole I go to bed early and he would take care of them until a certain time, but it really didn't work. We both ended up getting up to feed a baby.

Also, for the first month, I had a lot of help. My mother stayed with me for two weeks and and my sister stayed for one week. My dh also took one week off...

Message edited 10/19/2009 12:16:01 AM.

Re: When did you sleep????

Feeding them at the same time helps on time. It will
get better.... it just takes time. Once they sleep the night... it is so much easier.

Re: When did you sleep????

I kept them on the same schedule, if one woke to eat in the middle of the night, I woke the other one up. I didn't prop the bottle was was able to get 2 feedings and 2 changes and be back in bed for a bit before the next feeding. DH did not do the overnight feedings during the week because he was working, but by the time I went back to work after 15 weeks they were both sttn.

I barely napped during the day, since I am not a napper, but I would go right to bed after their last feeding of the night at 10:30 since they would go 4 hours for one feeding, and be up about 2 and then again at 6 but I would be able to sleep until 10am, obviously not an option with a toddler. I did start waking at 9 so I could shower and get dressed before they woke up and it was not that bad of a nights sleep with getting up 2x a night. It will get easier when they can go longer stretches.

Re: When did you sleep????

When DH had to go back to work I kept them on a strict schedule. Woke them both up when one got up, propped up the bottles and fed them together. On weekends, DH and I would take 5 hour clips. I would sit downstairs with the kids in their pak n plays and he would sleep for 5 hours straight and then switch. It was 9-4 and 4-9. That helped a lot.

Also, try not to focus on anything but the day at hand. If you think too much about how much longer the sleep deprivation will last you will drive yourself crazy.

It will get better. This was the absolute worst part of the first three months.

Re: When did you sleep????

coffee coffee coffee.
At night first three months I diid alll the feedings then my dh toook one and II had the other baby=so I ust catnapped every 3 hours at night when he had one baby.
Trust me it goes fast. You can get through it. I rented movies and just got into the mindframe I waited soooooooo long I was not going to let it get to me.
You ca also try Podee bottles if they suck good.
Good luck! it willl be ok! xxooo

Re: When did you sleep????

I didn't. You're in the same spot I was a year ago and with a 2 year old at home, you don't have the option of sleeping your days away. You'll get used to the lack of sleep (it won't feel better) but you'll get used to it.