The question that I get asked the most is "How do you look awake?!?" I have gotten lucky and have three pretty good sleepers but I was kind of a Zombie the first 8 weeks.
The first 8 weeks they LOVED to sleep, but I had to wake them every 3 hours to feed them. When they first came home they were still having troubles eating. The nurses at the hospital said once they have tried to eat for 30 minutes, then they are burning off more calories than they are taking in, so to stop at that point. I would have to feed all three of them for that 30 minutes. Up until 4 weeks, I had to feed them one at a time. Some of it was me still being uncomfortable but mostly because I had to really focus my attention on them in order to be able to get them to eat. I had to rub their cheeks, rub their foreheads, move them around, anything to try to keep them awake. All they wanted to do was sleep (except from 10pm-2am) For some reason from 10-2, they all wanted me to hold them and were impatient with their feedings. With Alex having to go to work, I tried as hard as I could to let him sleep but some nights I would wake him up and say please just hold these two! We had tons of help from our family but it seemed like at 9:00 when everyone went home and Alex went to bed, the little ones knew it was time to tag team Mommy!
I tried putting all three of them in the pack in play the first night they were home. They looked so cute!
BUT.. they hated it. So within the first hour, I put them all in their bouncy seats. They were used to being separate in the hospital and their bouncy seats were very comfortable and warm! I slept on the couch and had them lined up in front of me.
For the first two weeks when Alex was off work he slept in the recliner next to me in the living room. After he went back to work he moved back to our bed to be able to get some rest. I slept on the couch for the first 8 weeks. It just became my routine and I felt like I could see them a lot better.
The first 4 weeks, I went most nights with an hour or two of sleep. I had to feed them all one at a time for 30 minutes. By time I spent 30 minutes feeding one and 20 minutes getting them back to sleep and doing that two more times, it was time to start preparing bottles again. Most mornings Alex would get up for work at 5am and I had not been to sleep. For some reason they loved sleeping in the mornings so at their 6am feeding they would all eat and go right back to sleep. This is generally when I got my hour or two of sleep.
I remember one day, I had told Alex that I had to get some sleep, so as soon as he got home, I changed the sheets on the bed, took a shower, and put on the comfiest pj's I could find. I slept form 4pm-9pm. I will never forget how amazing that 5 hours of sleep was. I don't think I have slept that good since!
Around 4 weeks old, they started getting much better at eating. I no longer had to beg them and they could drink their 2ml in about 15 minutes instead of 30. Because I didn't have to force them to eat, I started feeding two of them at a time. I would sit on the couch Indian style and have one leaning up against my leg on each side. Instead of an hour to feed 2, it took 15 minutes! At this point I could have them all fed and back to sleep in an hour and half! Yay for an hour and half of sleep between feedings! At this point I was getting about 5 hours a night and I was still sleeping with them in their bouncy seats in front of me on the couch.
When they turned 8 weeks, our lives got a whole easier. At this point we could stop waking them up every 3 hours. I also read somewhere that at 8 weeks, they can begin to understand the difference between day and night. This is when I started our nightly bed time routine. I would not let them nap after their 6:00pm feeding. I would try to get them to sleep after their 3:00 feeding but if they did not, I would still make them stay awake. I did everything I could to keep these three babies awake. I didn't swaddle them at this time and I would have them all three lined up on the couch singing and shaking rattles in front of them. For the first couple of weeks, I have to admit, it did kind of seem like torture. But if they slept after 6pm, of course they wouldn't want to go to sleep, who would? At 7:30pm, I would start bath time. They would all get baths, get lotioned, and swaddled for bed time. At 9:00 they would get their last bottle feeding. After they ate I would put them in the bouncy seats and let them fall asleep on their own. I would wake them up for their midnight feeding, since I was normally still awake anyway and then they would sleep until their 6:00am feeding, go back to sleep and sleep until 9.
I never at any point walked or rocked them to sleep. I know it sounds kind of heartless but there was no possible way that I would be able to rock or walk three babies to sleep at night. It was extremely hard for my mom not to rock or walk them, but every time I would remind her! I feel like this is why I get the sleep that I do now.
At 10 weeks, I decided it was probably time that I start sleeping in my bed again. They were all still so tiny, so when I put them in their cribs I felt like the beds were huge. They were used to sleeping in their bouncy seats and I knew this would be a hard transition, so I put their bouncy seats in their cribs. This way, they could transition to the new room and still feel safe in their seats. The first week they all cried it out a little. It was rough to let them cry but how would I choose which one got the special treatment? The first week it only took them about 5 minutes every night to cry it out (they were exhausted from all the rattle motion they had in front of their faces) After the first week, they all went straight to sleep when I put them to bed.
I let them sleep in their bouncy seats until they were 20 weeks old. I think it was a comfort zone for me. I felt like they were safer there. They transitioned really well and slept all night their first night in their cribs!
Connor
Alexis
Every now and then, Alex and I will wake one of them up and let them sleep in our bed. A lot of times on the weekends one will start to move around really early, so we will run to get that one so the others don't wake up at 6am on a Saturday! I love this cuddle time, since we don't get it very often. Even now, they get bath time at 7pm and Mickey Mouse is at 7:30. At 8:00, we go upstairs, potty, brush teeth, get their gummy vitamin (Princess or Car Nummies, is what they call them), read a book, and they all get in their beds and go to sleep. This schedule is probably the most important part of our lives. I feel like this schedule makes our lives so much easier. We have followed this from the beginning and the kiddos know it. They know what is coming next, so we never (okay, rarely) have any breakdowns. After our book is read, and kisses go all around, It is sleep time! They are generally all asleep by 9. Now it is time for me to start my 3rd job....maid service!
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