Sleep Deprivation (6/24/08)

first published on 6/24/08:

So as a parent of twins, I find that most conversations involve some query about the amount of sleep we are getting. People tend to think that anything more than 3 hours straight is miraculous. I, on the other hand, think this is nuts. (Ask my college roommates or my husband - I don't do well with lack of sleep.) So since the day that the boys turned 2 months, we have been lucky, I guess. They had been going to bed around 8-9:00 and waking to eat about every 3 hours til 6-7am. At their 2 month checkup, the pediatrician suggested putting them to bed at 7pm. That night, they both slept til about 5:30am! We've stuck w/ the 7pm bedtime and have had mixed results. Most nights, they will sleep about 7-8 hours, eat and then sleep the rest of the night til about 7. However, recently, they have slept til 4am and then won't go back to sleep.

On top of that, they are pretty inconsistent with their daytime naps (which probably has something to do with nighttime sleep patterns...). All in all, I am not nearly as productive as I'd like to be. Ok, I know I've got 2 babies to handle, so no one really expects too high a level of productivity, but I would like to actually complete a couple loads of laundry every now and then - I'm not talking diving into Crime & Punishment or anything...my needs are few.

Now back to that part about me and my need for sleep... I get my best sleep from about 4am-7am. I could wake up every hour in the middle of the night hours and be fine as long as I can sleep from 4-7. So you might imagine (with sympathy to Larry) how crabby I've been recently.

Well, I am hoping that the end is in sight - at our pediatrician's suggestion, we're hiring a sleep consultant (oh yes, you can get a consultant for just about every baby "issue" - baby won't eat, get a feeding consultant; baby won't smile for pictures, a modeling consultant; baby won't play with the $100 set of organic, hand painted baby blocks, I'm sure there's a playtime consultant). We've got our live session with her this evening and then some follow-up by phone. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. The idea of a whole night sleep, regularly, without having to ship the kids off to China ...worth every penny!

Daydreaming of the land of Nod....