Our goal has always, for the most part, been to have the twins sleeping in the nursery, in their own cribs, by the summer. In May, I received an email from Mothers of Multiples Classifieds, saying that someone was looking for a co-sleeper, which is what the twins were sleeping in in our room. I thought this would be a great way to force us into moving them out..since if I sold the co-sleeper, then we would have no choice but to move them. So last weekend, I broke down the crib, even though it is not promised to that other mother until June 15th. The twins had been napping in their cribs for about a week at that point and we decided that it was time. Now, don't get me wrong...I LOVE having them in the room with us. It puts my mind at ease, especially after Lucas stopped breathing and ended up in the hospital. But, I worried that they would be too dependent on me, or more so that I would find it harder and harder to put them in the nursery. I have always been a "tough love" type of person, (and I found out so is Felix..which is great..very helpful to be on the same page!)but I felt I needed the tough love more than the twins. Time to suck it up and let go a little bit for what will be the first of many times in my life when I will have to let them go just a little.
So, move them we did and while Lucas was happy as a clam, Liliana put up quite a fight! She would nap for up to four hours during the day in her crib but at night, the minute her foot hit the mattress, she would scream...and I mean scream. At first, we were sure something was wrong. We are lucky to have very "chill" babies. They really don't put up a fight or cry or anything unless they are hungry or in pain, or something. Really, they are very laid back and happy babies..everyone says that about them. So for Liliana to be screaming of all things really worried me...so of course, the first thing I did was pick her up...immediately the tears stopped and she looked up at me with a smile and laughed. I put her down, she screamed, I picked her up, she laughed. So clearly, she was playing me. She didn't like the crib and had found a way out.
Felix and I decided to try what is called the Ferber method. We researched this topic a lot online, and found that this was something we thought we could handle, and would be beneficial in the long run. It proved to be more difficult than I ever imagined. Basically, what it calls for is when the baby cries, you go in and soothe them for about a minute, reassuring them that everything is fine. And then you leave. If the baby starts crying again, you wait five minutes, then go in and soothe them again..keep in mind, never picking the baby up. Leave, if the baby cries, wait ten minutes, repeat, wait fifteen minutes, repeat. You never go longer than 15 minutes and you repeat until the baby falls asleep. Sounds good in theory..tough in practice. Five minutes of listening to your child cry is heart-wrenching if not mind splitting and I found it much more difficult than I thought it would ever be. And before you say anything, yes, I know there are many views and opinions about the Ferber method. Some think its horrible and unnecessary torture on the baby and some swear it is the best thing out there. But it did work for us. Both babies now sleep 6-8 hours through the night and while the first four nights were hell..and I mean hell...we are all a happier family because of it. Below is a video of them both sleeping like the little angels they are...sorry the videos are so dark, but it is dark in their nursery.
I was able to get a small video of Liliana and her "aquarium". It's a great toy that attaches to the side of the crib and plays music, bubbles rise and fish swim. Very soothing to babies. We call him "Senor Pez" (Mr. Fish).
And as a side note the twins went to the doctor today and Lucas weighed 13.5 pounds and Liliana 12.5 Last time they were in the 5th percentile and now they are almost in the 30th! They are catching up nicely and will start the introduction to solid foods next month. Indeed, they are growing up way too quickly. In the waiting room today, we saw a preemie that was born a week ago that weighed exactly what the twins weighed at birth (4lbs. 4oz) I couldn't believe that they were ever that small. We will blink and they will be walking!
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