Need napping advice, urgently!

Help!!!!!

My boys are now 7 months old (5mos corrected) and they (and I) need to nap!
Problem: they won't, so I can't :-(

Seriously--I'm losing it here. Today I had to call my husband home from
work to take care of the babies because I didn't trust myself to be in
charge of them anymore. I'm sure I would never hurt them, but I am about 12
straws past the straw that broke the camel's back.

They wake up between 4:30 and 5am every morning. If I'm *really* lucky, I
may be able to get one of them to sleep by about 10am, then spend the next
hour trying to get the other to sleep, only to have his brother wake up as
soon as he nods off--usually waking him up too.

I spend huge portions of every day pushing the stroller around shopping
malls and/or driving, because they will cat-nap in their carseats as long as
the world keeps moving. The problem is, they get rest but I don't. Worse,
this is becoming less and less effective :-(

I am so fried that I have lost my keys and, a couple of days ago, my wallet.
So now I'm having to try and replace all my ID and the kids haven't stopped
grousing all day.

It's not like they don't need the sleep. Chris in particular becomes
crankier and crankier as the day goes on and he gets more tired. By evening
he's beside himself.

It would save my sanity if they would just nap for one hour a day, say
around 11:30am, at the same time, and if it didn't take two hours to get
them to sleep.

Please help. All the books I read the advice is geared towards having just
one kid--for example, I can't let them "cry it out" in their cribs because
each one's crying makes the other one more upset. By the end of 10 minutes
I have two hysterical babies--*not* condusive to napping.

TIA, please answer soon.

Marie
Chris and Alex--born 04/23/03 at 31wks gestational :-)
Meet the Kidlets at http://ca.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/mmcw2

Hi, Marie!! First, it does get better!! Have you tried swings or vibrating
bouncy seats? Some kids like them and some don't but they have worked magic
for all three of mine at different ages. I think they are a bit young for the
cry it out approach (which ain't all its cracked up to be anyway) but could you
let them nap in different rooms. Maybe the first one to go to sleep would stay
asleep if he wasn't disturbed by his brother and maybe the second one would be
easier to get to sleep if he wasn't in the same room with his brother. If none
of this works, could you hire a teen to swing by after school to take the kids
on a walk for an hour or so-- at least allowing you to nap? HTH.

-Cindy (mom to Ashlyn and Allyson- 6/99 and Jenna 6/03)

In article rs.com,
says...

Help!!!!!

My boys are now 7 months old (5mos corrected) and they (and I) need to nap!
Problem: they won't, so I can't :-(

Seriously--I'm losing it here. Today I had to call my husband home from
work to take care of the babies because I didn't trust myself to be in
charge of them anymore. I'm sure I would never hurt them, but I am about 12
straws past the straw that broke the camel's back.

They wake up between 4:30 and 5am every morning. If I'm *really* lucky, I
may be able to get one of them to sleep by about 10am, then spend the next
hour trying to get the other to sleep, only to have his brother wake up as
soon as he nods off--usually waking him up too.

I spend huge portions of every day pushing the stroller around shopping
malls and/or driving, because they will cat-nap in their carseats as long as
the world keeps moving. The problem is, they get rest but I don't. Worse,
this is becoming less and less effective :-(

I am so fried that I have lost my keys and, a couple of days ago, my wallet.
So now I'm having to try and replace all my ID and the kids haven't stopped
grousing all day.

It's not like they don't need the sleep. Chris in particular becomes
crankier and crankier as the day goes on and he gets more tired. By evening
he's beside himself.

It would save my sanity if they would just nap for one hour a day, say
around 11:30am, at the same time, and if it didn't take two hours to get
them to sleep.

Please help. All the books I read the advice is geared towards having just
one kid--for example, I can't let them "cry it out" in their cribs because
each one's crying makes the other one more upset. By the end of 10 minutes
I have two hysterical babies--*not* condusive to napping.

TIA, please answer soon.

Marie
Chris and Alex--born 04/23/03 at 31wks gestational :-)
Meet the Kidlets at http://ca.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/mmcw2

Hi, Marie!! First, it does get better!! Have you tried swings or vibrating
bouncy seats? Some kids like them and some don't but they have worked magic
for all three of mine at different ages. I think they are a bit young for the
cry it out approach (which ain't all its cracked up to be anyway) but could you
let them nap in different rooms. Maybe the first one to go to sleep would stay
asleep if he wasn't disturbed by his brother and maybe the second one would be
easier to get to sleep if he wasn't in the same room with his brother. If none
of this works, could you hire a teen to swing by after school to take the kids
on a walk for an hour or so-- at least allowing you to nap? HTH.

-Cindy (mom to Ashlyn and Allyson- 6/99 and Jenna 6/03)

In article rs.com,
says...

Help!!!!!

My boys are now 7 months old (5mos corrected) and they (and I) need to nap!
Problem: they won't, so I can't :-(

Seriously--I'm losing it here. Today I had to call my husband home from
work to take care of the babies because I didn't trust myself to be in
charge of them anymore. I'm sure I would never hurt them, but I am about 12
straws past the straw that broke the camel's back.

They wake up between 4:30 and 5am every morning. If I'm *really* lucky, I
may be able to get one of them to sleep by about 10am, then spend the next
hour trying to get the other to sleep, only to have his brother wake up as
soon as he nods off--usually waking him up too.

I spend huge portions of every day pushing the stroller around shopping
malls and/or driving, because they will cat-nap in their carseats as long as
the world keeps moving. The problem is, they get rest but I don't. Worse,
this is becoming less and less effective :-(

I am so fried that I have lost my keys and, a couple of days ago, my wallet.
So now I'm having to try and replace all my ID and the kids haven't stopped
grousing all day.

It's not like they don't need the sleep. Chris in particular becomes
crankier and crankier as the day goes on and he gets more tired. By evening
he's beside himself.

It would save my sanity if they would just nap for one hour a day, say
around 11:30am, at the same time, and if it didn't take two hours to get
them to sleep.

Please help. All the books I read the advice is geared towards having just
one kid--for example, I can't let them "cry it out" in their cribs because
each one's crying makes the other one more upset. By the end of 10 minutes
I have two hysterical babies--*not* condusive to napping.

TIA, please answer soon.

Marie
Chris and Alex--born 04/23/03 at 31wks gestational :-)
Meet the Kidlets at http://ca.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/mmcw2

for example, I can't let them "cry it out" in their cribs because
each one's crying makes the other one more upset. By the end of 10 minutes
I have two hysterical babies--*not* condusive to napping. BRBR

I sooooo understand this! At almost 30 months this still happens at our house.

Have you tried rocking them to sleep in a stroller for naps? It is tough with
a double stroller, but if you have two individuals that recline (even the cheap
kind) you might be able to rock them to sleep at the same time. Try putting on
some soothing music and make the lighting dim in the room. This worked for me
fairly often, though I will admit, my kids were and still are car sleepers.

Good luck!

Michelle
Riley and James
6-19-01

for example, I can't let them "cry it out" in their cribs because
each one's crying makes the other one more upset. By the end of 10 minutes
I have two hysterical babies--*not* condusive to napping. BRBR

I sooooo understand this! At almost 30 months this still happens at our house.

Have you tried rocking them to sleep in a stroller for naps? It is tough with
a double stroller, but if you have two individuals that recline (even the cheap
kind) you might be able to rock them to sleep at the same time. Try putting on
some soothing music and make the lighting dim in the room. This worked for me
fairly often, though I will admit, my kids were and still are car sleepers.

Good luck!

Michelle
Riley and James
6-19-01

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:17:52 GMT, "Marie" wrote:

Help!!!!!

My boys are now 7 months old (5mos corrected) and they (and I) need to nap!
Problem: they won't, so I can't :-(

When our girls were about that age, for some reason I could get them
to sleep by running the vacuum cleaner.

Nick

--
Nick Theodorakis

nicholas_theodorakis [at] urmc [dot] rochester [dot] edu

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:17:52 GMT, "Marie" wrote:

Help!!!!!

My boys are now 7 months old (5mos corrected) and they (and I) need to nap!
Problem: they won't, so I can't :-(

When our girls were about that age, for some reason I could get them
to sleep by running the vacuum cleaner.

Nick

--
Nick Theodorakis

nicholas_theodorakis [at] urmc [dot] rochester [dot] edu

POOR MARIE....

ok, this is going to be horrible advice, but it works. first try the
vibrating bouncy chair. why isnt that thing in the medical books? i
swear to god my poor kids vibrated so much the first 6 months i swore
they'd both be brain damaged.... and continued vibrating them anyway.

next, if you're out walking them and doing all sorts of things with
them it sounds like over load. you need to bore them. in the car
and outside and at the mall there is all sorts of things to look at
and they cant calm themselves down when they have all that input. so
stay at home, turn things off, and bore the living crap out of them.
they'll sleep.

finally... ok this is the bad advice. elmo in grouchland. honest to
god, i hate the little red fella, but had it not been for this movie,
either myself or husband would not be with us today. age 6 months,
girls laying on the floor, on pillows, change diapers, have some milk,
put in the elmo cd, they watch it, and before too long, they fall
asleep. i have no idea why it works but it worked for us.

you'll hear a lot of twin moms complain about how bad they feel about
plugging their kids into tv all the time... i dont feel bad about it
at all. people with single babies dont get it. you need to get them
on a schedule where they sleep, and at the same time, and once they
do this a few days you can crash on the floor in front of elmo too and
not wake up with fear that they are going to roll away...


marie, take a hot bubble bath at night, or just get your husband to
let you run out for a coffee with a magazine ALONE.... and cry. i
had such a hard time adjusting to the girls, it was such a rough
experience but we've all been there.. you'll make it darlin....

and just think, you'll fondly remember these times when they are 3

POOR MARIE....

ok, this is going to be horrible advice, but it works. first try the
vibrating bouncy chair. why isnt that thing in the medical books? i
swear to god my poor kids vibrated so much the first 6 months i swore
they'd both be brain damaged.... and continued vibrating them anyway.

next, if you're out walking them and doing all sorts of things with
them it sounds like over load. you need to bore them. in the car
and outside and at the mall there is all sorts of things to look at
and they cant calm themselves down when they have all that input. so
stay at home, turn things off, and bore the living crap out of them.
they'll sleep.

finally... ok this is the bad advice. elmo in grouchland. honest to
god, i hate the little red fella, but had it not been for this movie,
either myself or husband would not be with us today. age 6 months,
girls laying on the floor, on pillows, change diapers, have some milk,
put in the elmo cd, they watch it, and before too long, they fall
asleep. i have no idea why it works but it worked for us.

you'll hear a lot of twin moms complain about how bad they feel about
plugging their kids into tv all the time... i dont feel bad about it
at all. people with single babies dont get it. you need to get them
on a schedule where they sleep, and at the same time, and once they
do this a few days you can crash on the floor in front of elmo too and
not wake up with fear that they are going to roll away...


marie, take a hot bubble bath at night, or just get your husband to
let you run out for a coffee with a magazine ALONE.... and cry. i
had such a hard time adjusting to the girls, it was such a rough
experience but we've all been there.. you'll make it darlin....

and just think, you'll fondly remember these times when they are 3

Hi Marie,

My boys always had to nap in separate rooms. I just set up a portacrib in
another bedroom for naps. Also try to make the room(s) as dark as possible,
even if you have to hang a dark sheet over the window. Just keep putting them
down at the same times every day. Hopefully they will get used to the routine
and maybe without knowing the other is there, they will sleep. A good
"guideline" for this age is naps at 10 am and 2 pm (although yours may be
earlier because they wake up so early in the morning). Speaking of that, have
you tried getting them back to sleep when they wake up so early in the morning?
It sounds like they may be *over*tired and therefore having a hard time
falling asleep for naps.

I can feel your frustration just by what you wrote I do hope it gets better
soon and that you all get some rest.

Take care,

Ellen
--------
Erin 6/26/95
Bradley & Alex 10/5/00