Our Nightly Routine

With the twins almost seven weeks old, we're approaching the time when they should be able to sleep for an eight hour chunk each night without waking. According to "On Becoming Babywise," which we've modeled our feeding schedule after, most babies master this by 8 weeks, and those that don't by then do by 12 weeks. (If you hate that philosophy, shut up. We're feeding and loving our babies.)

Any way you look at it, we're on the downhill slope. Pretty much from the night we got home, we've only been getting up once a night with them, so its not been as bad as we've heard from other parents. But still - we'd both love a full night of sleep. We're alternating who gets up each night so that at least one of us gets an uninterrupted night of sleep each night.

So, in our efforts to coax our children into night sleeping, we've instituted the following nighttime routine.

• The "final" feeding is at 7 PM.
• After this feeding, we bathe them.
• They then get "spa time," in which they are massaged with some night time baby lotion (I am not making this up. I made fun of Krissee at first, but it really does help them to calm down.)
• They're swaddled and placed in the crib
• Dad reads them a story.
• The lights are turned off, the mobile is turned on for 5 minutes, and the door is shut.

This has been working great. For the most part, they're asleep (or at least settled down) by the time the mobile finishes its 5 minute cycle.

We awaken them around 10-11 for their final feeding of the day, which is kept quiet and strictly business - feeding and a diaper change. No playing.

After that, we go to bed.

And each night, even if its the other's night, we truly hope that tonight is the night.

When its not your night, you can't wait to wake in the morning and ask the other "How did it go?" and "When did they wake up?"

We'll get it. Its still crazy early. But rest assured, once we're getting full nights of sleep? That is going to be like an extra cherry on top of a bowlful of cherries that tops the most decadent chocolate and ice cream concoction known to man.

Yep - THAT good.