This post has been forever in the making partly because this sleep "training" is an on going thing in our lives and partly because I am exhausted just thinking about the process. But as hard as it has been the last several months there is progress and sometimes that is all you can hope for.
So let's rewind a bit first, Charlotte and Olivia have always been amazing sleepers. We initially sleep trained them around 4 months and they did great.. yes we used the cry it out method and it worked for us. No we (I) didn't leave them to cry when they clearly needed something but we quickly learned the difference in their cries and within a few days they were self soothing and sleeping well... through the night. Since then they have been great with a few hiccups here and there due to sickness or teething; our sleep journey has been pretty easy with these two.
As you may remember back in October we moved in with family for a few months and I would say this is when things started to change. We shared a room with the twins and this is also when they started climbing out of their cribs. We also took away their pacifiers during this time. So rightfully so there were some struggles in the sleep department.
We moved into our own house in February and decided to just put the twins directly into "big girl beds" (Twin beds). This was the best idea for us for a number of reasons, we were about to have a baby, they were already getting out the cribs, and it was easier to set up the beds than the cribs just to take them down in a few weeks. The first few nights were pretty rough with crying and just general confusion from moving and new beds. We laid with them the first two nights then transitioned to mommy sitting on their beds for a few minutes. They usually ended up coming into our bedroom to get in bed and that was ok for a few nights but I was pregnant and so uncomfortable with them in our bed I had to put a stop to that. So anytime they would come in I would get out of bed and put them back into their beds after a few nights they stopped... phew... But like most of this journey there was regression and new obstacles to overcome.
Our biggest hurdles right now involve getting them to stay in bed after we put them down... before they actually go to sleep and once again keeping them in their beds throughout the night. Some nights are better than others but there is little consistency with their behaviors. While we try to keep our routine very consistent to help them it doesn't always work to our advantage. It currently takes these girls any where from 30 minutes to an hour to fall asleep and they typically get out of bed 4-5 times before falling asleep... usually asking to be "covered up". And one or both of them most certainly end up in our bed at some point during the night.
While things aren't prefect I am thankful for the small victories and progress we have seen... less crying, no longer needing one of us in the room with them, and some good nights. I am still holding out hope that we can eventually get back to their great sleeping habits and peace at night will be restored. Our only option a this point is to be continue being consistent with our habits.
Also, taking any advice to help keep them in bed at night would be great!!
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