Progress!

So clearly, we were struggling with sleep. All of us. Well maybe not Abby so much, but definitely the rest of us. Since the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, and we were definitely insane, we decided to change things up and try to make the transition from the babies sleeping in portable rocking cribs in our room to sleeping in their "big baby" cribs in their room. Lo and behold - it appears to have worked.

As I've said before, Jake is a sensitive baby, so it seems like putting him in a dark room, with loud white noise, swaddled so he can't move, is exactly the sensory deprivation that he needs to fall asleep. We also started dressing him more warmly under his swaddle, because for some reason it seems like he needs more layers than Abby does to stay warm. Abby, already a good sleeper, usually passes out in the crib right away. Right now we have them sharing a crib at the recommendation of our pediatrician, and they seem to like it, except for the fact that Abby is a big spitter so we need to rotate their positions through the night so no one is sleeping in a pool of dribble.

The past three nights have been like the good old days! They usually go right to sleep, wake up at a reasonable interval for their bottles, and go back to sleep after their bottles are finished. They have been napping in their cribs a lot during the day too, because I've read that sleep begets sleep which certainly seems to be true in their case, and they are both a bit better nappers in the crib than in the Pack N Play and swing we had them in during the days all the time before. We have also changed our approach from each of us trying to manage one overnight feeding alone to both of us doing all of the overnight feedings, because it seems to prevent anyone from melting down and make both of them easier to get back to sleep. Since we have basically doubled the amount of sleep we're getting in a night, even though it's fragmented, we'll take it!

I must admit, I'm feeling pretty proud of us for getting back on track with the sleeping thing. Of course, Jake could have just heard that I was trashing his sleep habits all over the Internet and decided to get back at me by proving me wrong, but whatever, we are getting more sleep which makes the days much easier to manage! I'm sure it won't last forever, so we'll try to enjoy it while it does.

I asked Jeff once what he would do differently if our roles were reversed. His response was that the house wouldn't be as clean, and that he would try to sleep every single second that he could during the day. While I can't give up on the house - I spend enough time here that I know I'm much happier when it looks nice - I am going to put more of a priority on napping during the day, at least during the week when I'm going solo with both babies.

Speaking of role reversal - took the "day off" yesterday and went shopping while Jeff stayed home with the babies. I was going to get my nails done but instead chose to drink wine at Ang's house, a wise decision and just the relaxation I need to get through this week, "the peak of nighttime fussiness". I would say wish us luck, but I have a feeling we'll be just fine.