Ferberizing Twins ~ Night #2

Before Ferber news... we sent Abra into Boston to watch the big Fireworks Spectaular on the Charles. Thought it was a good way to experience a fun American tradition. Can't wait until the kids are old enough to make the same trip.

Well, it didn't go quite as smoothly as it did the first night. After nursing the two of them tandem and having them both go to sleep, Daddy and I set them down in their cribs. Then the screaming began. Both of them were going full tilt. And going... and going. Soon it had been half an hour. I knew if J Frog stopped Missy would too, but he just wouldn't give up. At the half hour mark, I went to check to make sure no one had flipped over. Sure enough, J Frog was face down and exhausted. I picked him up and whisked him out of the room. His eyes were red and he was hiccuping with big tears rolling. I apologized to him and hugged him for a while. Then he looked up and smiled at me. It's a good thing that babies don't know that as moms we are both Glenda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West at the same time. If he just wants to see Glenda, that's fine with me.

I nursed J Frog and within 5 minutes I could tell that Missy was going to sleep. She was fine as long as J Frog wasn't egging her on. Then I was stuck with J Frog asleep in my arms and Missy asleep in her crib. Do I put him down, knowing full well that he'll scream and potentially wake her up? Do I hand him to Daddy, get LR to bed, get ready for bed myself, and then keep J Frog with me for the night? We decided to go with our initial instinct to teach them to sleep through each other's cries, so I put J Frog in his crib. He grabbed a hold of my arm and didn't want to let go as he touched down on the crib mattress. I put him down and walked away with him screaming. He didn't go quite as long this time and, miracles of miracles, Missy stayed asleep through the next 15 minutes. Both down, hooray!

I put LR to bed and as soon as I came back down stairs I heard J Frog wake up again. So soon! He cried for 5 minutes or so and then was back asleep. Not sure what that was about, but I'm glad that we stuck to our guns on keeping them together.

Around 2:30 J Frog woke up and started crying. 20 minutes later Missy woke up and started as well. 20 minutes after that she went back to sleep while he was still going strong. He cried for an hour and 5 minutes. I was so wound up by the end that I couldn't go to sleep for another half hour. Oh, and in the middle of that LR woke up and came to our room. The crying scares him a little, so I hope we'll be finished Ferber-izing them soon.