It was a long weekend here in Toronto and we went to the cottage for three days. We always look forward to this time of year. Although, the weather rarely cooperates we always enjoy the break. We left on Friday afternoon. Being a long weekend, we faced some heavy traffic and the 2 hour drive took 2 1/2 hours instead. Emma and Sofia were great on the drive, however, they slept for a good chunk of time and I knew it meant trouble for bedtime.

Arriving at the cottage grandma and grandpa were thrilled to play with the girls. We let them stay-up an hour past their normal bedtime. When we put them down they were both extremely unhappy. Unfortunately, I have learned that at this point I need to leave the room as lingering and trying to soothe them without holding them escalates the situation and makes matters worse.  It’s important to us that they learn to fall asleep without our assistance.

Eventually they both fell asleep. Secretly, I was hoping that going to bed an hour later meant waking up an hour later in the morning. I was WRONG. They woke up at 5:45am instead of 6:30am and were more upset than usual. Reluctantly, we started our day early. During the remainder of our stay we noticed a big difference in both girls, especially Emma. They were crying a lot more and clearly wanted to be held by Sean and I. As soon as I left the room Emma would cry and fuss. Once she was in my arms she would smile with smug satisfaction. Sofia caught on quickly and before I knew it I was holding both babies for most of the weekend.

After some research, it’s clear that separation anxiety has kicked in.  I must admit, it feels wonderfully satisfying to get this sort of admiration from my babies. Them wanting me and only me makes me feel special I guess. However, I can also see this becoming frustrating and at times annoying. My family’s, consensus is that I not respond to each cry and allow them to cry it out. What do you think?

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www.bummis.com

Most experienced parents you speak to say, after the three month mark try not to change your child’s diaper in the middle of the night, unless your child has pooped. This is done to prevent them from completely waking up and keeping you up all night. We tried this once when Emma and Sofia were 3 months and it was awful. They woke up and I realized their diapers had leaked. At that time we were using Huggies Supreme but my girls peed a lot during the night so we had to start buying “Nighttime Huggies,” which can become really expensive on a tight budget. I had a brain wave and decided to try diaper covers instead. We bought Bummis and they were perfect! They slept through the night and in the morning their clothes were bone dry. We bathe them every night, rub Vaseline on before applying a new diaper and then put on the cover. We have had no rashes and the beauty is they can be reused and washed easily. We love the Bummis brand, which we buy for $13.00 at Mom’s To Be and More in Toronto or you can visit www.bummis.com.

They come in 5 different sizes and fit from 4-32 lbs. We took a trip to Florida this past Christmas and had a bazillion connecting flights. We decided since there is never an optimal time to change diapers while traveling with twin infants; the covers would be a great safety net. They proved to be indispensable. I highly recommend trying this instead of purchasing nighttime diapers.

What do you use at night for your kids?

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1. baby routine

Once Emma and Sofia turned 6 months, we had to change up our routine. We introduced solids slowly as recommended by our doctor. We gradually added new foods and have only recently started to feed them all three meals.  Here is a sample:

7:00am- First bottle-6oz each

7:15am- Activity time

8:00am- Breakfast-eat solids

8:30am- Activity time

9:00am- Morning nap

10:00am- Activity time

11:00am- Second bottle-6oz each

12:00pm- Lunch-eat more solids

12:30pm- Activity time

1:00pm- Afternoon nap

2:30pm- Activity time

3:00pm- Third bottle feed-6oz

5:00pm- Dinner-eat more solids

5:30pm- Activity time

6:30pm- Bath time

7:00pm- Last bottle feed-6oz

7:30pm- Bed time story

7:45pm- Down for the evening

*Please note that I am not specific about diaper changes as this varies daily. If you’re interested in a more detailed schedule please let me know in the comment section below.

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1. baby routine

The following is an example of the routine and schedule we set for Emma and Sofia when we started sleep training at 9 weeks. It is rigid, I know, but it worked for us and I managed to survive with little to no help everyday. I understand, that this is not for everyone but if you are looking for a sample routine I thought this would be helpful. Now that they are older the routine has been modified and I will post that shortly.  First, here is the schedule:

7am First bottle feed- 7oz each

7:30am Activity time

8:15am Morning nap

10:45am Change diaper

11am Second bottle feed-7oz each

11:30am Activity time

12:15pm Afternoon nap

2:45pm Change diaper

3:00pm Third bottle feeding-7oz each

3:30pm Activity time

6:30pm Bath time

7pm Last bottle feed-7oz each

7:30pm Bedtime story

7:45pm Put babies down for the night

Do you have a schedule or a routine that works well?

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It’s not always easy being a mom of twins. Frankly, it can be frustrating, overwhelming and rather chaotic. But, mostly it all  makes me laugh.

Take tonight for example, my husband, has parent/teacher interviews and won’t get home till 9pm. Generally, you need two people for our bedtime routine. However, tonight I had to be realistic and a little flexible. I took them for a good hour walk at around 5pm because most parents know that 6pm tends to be the whiny hour. I needed to be sure they would take a 15 minute nap in their stroller so that they would not drive me completely nuts before bedtime. The plan was a success and I managed to keep them occupied with several games and books until 7pm.

At around 7pm we went upstairs to my bedroom as usual and I created a space where I feed both bottles at the same time. As I sat there, I realized my nose was running (currently have a cold, which I have managed to pass onto Emma and Sofia), my hair was an absolute mess, my back and feet ached, my stomach was grumbling, and both hands were tied. I didn’t dare stop feeding them as I could not choose which baby to stop feeding. So I started to laugh out loud with tears in my eyes and noticed that both girls stopped drinking and began to smile with me. Amazingly, their smiles lifted my spirits and change my mood instantly. Their smiles became my tissue, my brush, the massage I desperately need, and the most delicious food.

Meanwhile, this post came to mind because it’s nice to be reminded to take things lightly and enjoy every minute with our children even if they drive us mad at times.

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I have wanted to write this post for sometime now. But I hesitate because I am afraid that after this post everything will change.

Sofia and Emma have been sleeping 12 hours a night and taking two 1 and a half hour naps during the day since they were 12 weeks old. Are you shocked? Here is how we did it…

1) A combination of three amazing books that I recommend to all new moms, Happiest Baby on the Block , The Baby Whisperer, and Twelve Weeks Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old.

The first book, Happiest Baby on the Block, was not the easiest book to read and therefore I recommend watching the DVD instead. We incorporated 2 (swaddling and the shushing) of the 5 S’s into our daily sleep routine. The babies loved to be swaddled and we did this until they were about 5 months old. The shushing sound was very effective in helping to soothe them to sleep.

We used The Baby Whisperer to establish and stick to a strict routine using her E.A.S.Y. method and later her advice on P.U./P.D. was priceless.

Finally, Twelve Weeks Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old was the most helpful and it only took me two hours to read. I followed this book word for word. I needed help and could not survive 18 feedings a day with no sleep. This book offered us the best solution and it worked. The first three weeks of “baby boot camp” were awful and now a blur. I didn’t get much sleep because I was up most of the night training the babes and weening them off their night feedings.

2) Followed excellent advice: babies need to learn how to sleep. We are not born with this skill and it is the parents responsibility to teach their child (or in my case children.)  The best way to do this is to put them down for sleep while they are still awake or aware. The advise is not to rock them to sleep or to put them down after falling asleep while eating. The rationale is that if the baby is put down while sleeping, when they wake and are not in your arms as they last remembered, they feel something is wrong or missing and therefore will cry. I know and can understand how this could be difficult for some moms especially when babies are so small and helpless. It worked for us and I am certain it had to do with us having two. I could not hold both comfortably and I had no choice but to put them down awake.

3) We used the Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper and they slept side-by-side next to our bed for the first three months. This was amazing as I was always with them and would reach out and put my hand on them as soon as they fussed. I was getting up 3 times a night to feed two babies so it was helpful not to have to go into another room. It allowed me to be with them and ensure they felt safe and secure during the night. We did not let them cry and we were always there to hold them. After, three months we moved them to the room next door and they slept in the same crib for 2 weeks. They are now sharing a room but sleeping in separate cribs.

4) Start early and be consistent-our girls were ready to start baby boot camp at 9 weeks. Sean and I discussed the training at length and came to important agreements. Try and be on the same page with your partner; it will make things easier when the baby is extremely fussy.

Our rule, when they were smaller, was to always go and be with them when they cried. We didn’t always pick them up but we were there with them soothing them and doing what we could to help them fall a sleep on their own. Now that they are six months old we let them cry/fuss for two minutes before going into their room. We did use soothers at first and I found them to be very useful, however, I restricted them to bed time and at about four months both girls refused to take them.

Do your babies sleep through the night? Do you have any great secrets you would like to share. Are you struggling? If you need some support or advice, I would love to hear from you.

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