FIO/CIO success

I may be jinxing myself by saying this, but I just have to celebrate my small (VERY small) sleep victory....

First of all, my DP sincerely believes that the interruptions in sleep that she endures (VERY minor) are extremely severe and that she experiences every bit as much sleep deprivation as me, who is up with them, nursing, etc. every night, every time they awaken. She also believes that she NEEDS a solid night's sleep every night and the most minor interruption to it will ruin her entire day and force her to suffer at work to the point that it may jeopardize her career (the only career supporting our household). I think that's ridiculous-- we have twins, we need to be flexible, but whatever.... This frustrates me as I can sometimes be up for hours at a time, dealing with various issues. Often, she'll comment on what a great night of sleep we had... when in fact I hardly got any!! <_<

Anyway, because of this, I try really hard to keep the noise to a minimum at night, mostly because I don't want to have to deal with a third whiny/fussy person the next day! I do NOT have good sleepers, so this is a nightly feat. Jackson had developed this habit of waking in the middle of the night, bright-eyed & bushy-tailed, eager to take on the world, and anxious for me to accompany him... for about 2 hours at a time. The last 2 times it happened, I made sure his every need was tended to-- clean diaper, full tummy, burped, teething aids were administered... and when he didn't fall asleep after a few minutes of rocking, I just put him in his crib and walked away (normally I rock him to sleep to avoid disturbing DP's sleep). I was too exhausted to rock Mr. Social to sleep any more! Each time, he cried (not hysterically, though) for about an hour. Then, it magically stopped. Not only that, but he also started sleeping about 2 hours longer at night (till 8 am!) and has been much more pleasant lately.

I hope I'm not jinxing myself! He still wakes twice to feed, but no more "midnight social hour"... Let's hope this trend continues!!

Now, I must tackle to issue of Jacob and his crazy sleeping issues... then maybe I will really get some sleep!

 

I hope it continues for you as well.

Keep us updated on the progress!!

 

Sounds positive!!

You have to love the whiney adult in the household!!My dh helped ONE night with the girls and was such a miserable creature the next day that I said I didn't need his help any more. He actually wears ear plugs (maybe your dp should try that?) and wakes and asks, "How did last night go?" I just want to sock him!!!!

What does FIO mean???

 

QUOTE(mctwins @ Dec 11 2007, 08:44 AM) [snapback]529057[/snapback]
Sounds positive!!

You have to love the whiney adult in the household!!My dh helped ONE night with the girls and was such a miserable creature the next day that I said I didn't need his help any more. He actually wears ear plugs (maybe your dp should try that?) and wakes and asks, "How did last night go?" I just want to sock him!!!!

What does FIO mean???


Fuss it out.

What does DP mean?

 

My guess would be Dear Partner?

Erin, we started CIO at about 4 months, and it was a lifesaver for us. Definitely keep it consistent and hang in there. I hope the good sleep keeps up!

 

And that's exactly how you do it. Good for you. That's what we finally did after ours had been home for 2 months and our health was beginning to be seriously affected from the lack of sleep. Dh got home from work and I told him that THIS is what we're going to do tonight, laid out the plan, and followed through. They cried (not hysterically) but weren't happy about it for about 10 minutes and that was that. We strictly stuck with the routine and we were then sleeping all night long with the exception of waking twice a night to change, feed, and burp.

 

My fingers are crossed for your continued success! I started doing this too, very reluctantly, for the extraneous wakings (they were wide awake but not really hungry or anything else that I could discover) the last couple of nights. They are already better rested, which makes everything else so much easier, doesn't it? And the guy next door in our duplex hasn't threatened bodily harm, yet, either.

Is there a CIO method for whiny partners? 'Cause mine sounds a lot like yours!

 

I'm so glad it's working so far! I hope it continues.

I think you are TOTALLY right to let your little social butterfly CIO/FIO in the middle of the night. I have no problem feeding my babies whenever they're hungry at night, but if they're only up to play, then it's one quick kiss and cuddle and then straight back to the crib, period. And they have really gotten the message - 99 times out of 100, when they're up at night, it's just business and then straight back to sleep.

QUOTE
First of all, my DP sincerely believes that the interruptions in sleep that she endures (VERY minor) are extremely severe and that she experiences every bit as much sleep deprivation as me, who is up with them, nursing, etc. every night, every time they awaken. She also believes that she NEEDS a solid night's sleep every night and the most minor interruption to it will ruin her entire day and force her to suffer at work to the point that it may jeopardize her career (the only career supporting our household). I think that's ridiculous-- we have twins, we need to be flexible, but whatever.... This frustrates me as I can sometimes be up for hours at a time, dealing with various issues. Often, she'll comment on what a great night of sleep we had... when in fact I hardly got any!!


Grrr. <_< That's really too bad that she's not more on board helping at night. After over 9 months with twins, I think you really adapt to sleep deprivation after a while. Last night I was up with DD at 12 and 4:30, and woke up feeling great, totally rested and refreshed. My DH shares the night work, and since having the babies he's gotten raises and promotions. Is there any way you could talk your DP into helping out a bit more? Maybe she'd find that it's not as bad as she thinks...

Anyway, fingers crossed for more good SLEEP!