Like I've said, the first nine months were smooth sailing. But the last two have been miserable! I CANNOT get my girls to take naps anymore unless I'm driving. While it is very nice that they’re able to sleep in the car, the whole driving thing is old. I’ve put more miles on my car in the last month than my husband who has a commute and does outside sales. My transmission slips when shifting from first to second gear and though I’ve been told my car won’t just break down, it will continue to get worse until one day it no longer starts, I still have visions of me, the girls, side of the road and smoke streaming from my engine. That would really suck! All of a sudden an hour and a half of crying through a nap isn’t looking so bad.
I’ve tried everything. White noise, separating the girls, letting them cry it out, putting them down with a toy, wake periods of three hours (too long), two and a half hours (too long), and two hours (are you kidding me, they’re almost one and they can’t stay up for longer than two hours?). I even called the doctor, whom I adore, but he had nothing to offer. It just isn’t happening and I’m losing my mind.
I haven’t had a break for as long as I can remember. My husband is wonderful and insists I get out of the house on weekends, encouraged my signing up for the interior design classes (by the way, my teacher farted in class on Monday, more on that to follow), but there is little he can do to help during the week, and I need help. Do I put them in daycare one day a week and let the daycare staff deal with them? I can see it now, “11 month old twins kicked out of local preschool for not napping. Their return is not likely.” I just don’t know.
So, as I sit in my living room writing, trying to ignore the screams from above, I plead for someone out there to help me. Does anyone have any advice?
I'm a mom of twins living in a suburban circus...and liking it, most of the time.
Hey Ann! I'm sorry that your nap issues have continued!!! That STINKS!!! I know you've probably been given a million pieces of advice. The best thing I can tell you is to grab the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book. I read this when I implemented a nap schedule with Boston and Teagan. It took a big amount of personal hard-headedness to get them on the schedule. Like 2 weeks of crying and being off schedule to get them on. I think the key is consistency. If you do the EXACT same thing, at the EXACT same time for a couple weeks, they'll start to get used to it. The book says babies crave a schedule so they know what to expect (food, naps, play time, awake time, sleep time...everything). Unfortunately for your eardrums, this means screaming crying for at a minimum an hour, twice a day, for a couple weeks. No leaving, no caving, no going in their door. I can't even begin to tell you how much those two weeks sucked in my house, but we are reaping the benefits now. I wish I had done it sooner than I did because I was more miserable before when I was getting random 15 minute sleeps from them.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think? I think you can do it!
If you need help, i would be more than happy to listen to your babies cry for an afternoon!!!!
Lindsay