I think we found something that actually works!!!

Lengthy title, but seriously guys...the girls are sleeeeeeeeping! We finally found something that works for them. After almost 9 months of waking up every 3-4 hours, they now sleep from 7:30ish-5:30ish, eat and then go back to bed until 7. I am thrilled. If I go to bed at 10, sometimes I get 8 straight hours of sleep! It's amazing. Here's what we do.
(Warning- it will probably get long and boring.)

First, let me say that I've tried everything. Rigid schedules, flexible schedules, no schedules, strict routine, nighttime rituals, rocking, binkies, toys that light up and make noise, my ipod, warm blankets, oils (this along with a ritual worked better than anything probably), more solid food, splitting them up, letting them scream, etc, etc. Nothing worked for more than a night or two. And nothing worked for both babies in the same night. At least one of them would wake up a couple of times during the night. 

They went down each night with very little problems. I'm not a big 'rocker to sleep' since Josh is usually asleep before they go to bed, so I do it on my own and we gave my sister in law her rocking chair back when we moved. I usually just lay them down, half swaddle them and they fall asleep pretty quickly. Sometimes they want a binkie (binky? who knows..), sometimes they like their glow sea horse on, but other times they don't care. Getting them to sleep was never the problem. Getting them to stay asleep is their issue.

When they were in the NICU, they got on a very strict 3 hour schedule. From day one, the ate every three hours without exception (although, sometimes it was 2). Normally, babies graduate from that schedule and move to 4-5 hours between feedings, but ours never did. Usually, babies will drink more than 4-5 oz bottles (I don't know about nursing...sorry). There's a baby that goes to church with us who's about their same age who down 8 oz bottles without batting an eye. I realized this could be the core to my girls' sleeping problems. They were eating (and by eating I mean formula) very little (20ish oz) during the day and making up for the extra calories they needed at night. 

 I started making them bigger bottles in hopes that they would magically drink more. It never worked. I refused to throw that much formula away, so we had all these half drunken bottles in the fridge. I went a few days without giving them any solid foods in hopes that they would drink enough. Still didn't work. They woke up at midnight and 3 starving. I knew the answer had to be getting them to eat more during the day. In desperation, I posted a question on the LDS board on babycenter asking if anyone had suggestions on how to get them to eat more. I got an answer from a twin mom who said she had the exact same problem. She suggested watering down the night time bottles. If I gave them a 4 oz bottle, only put 1 scoop of formula in it (with 4 oz, there should be 2 scoops). She said her boys would fall asleep, not realize their food was diluted, but wake up extra hungry because they didn't get as much during the night. She said her plan for her boys was to dilute it until she was just giving 2 oz of water and half a scoop, but her boys started sleeping through the night before it even came to that.

I thought it was a genius idea and felt pretty stupid for not thinking of it before. People suggested going to straight water, but I knew the girls would buy it. Really though, why on earth didn't I think to gradually do it? I'm a idiot.. I guess the only thing that matter now is that it WORKED! The first night, I dreamfed the babies before I went to bed around 10:30. Someone (I honestly don't remember who) woke up around 12 and I gave her a 4 oz bottle with one scoop. We both went back to sleep. (I've stopped waking up the other twin just because I don't want to create any more middle of the night feeding habits. I think it's a MUST when twins are tiny, but once they 'should' be sleeping through the night, I personally think it isn't a good idea.) I did the same thing when the other baby woke up a few hours later and before morning I think I did at least one more time. 

Both girls woke up starving. I think they both downed 9 oz no problem. This was amazing considering they usually only ate 5 at a time. They continued to eat like champs the rest of the day and their ounce intake before they fell asleep was almost 30! It took about 2 more days of 'tricking' them at night until they stopped waking up.

I'm still kind of shocked that it worked, but yet I feel so stupid for not trying it sooner. I'll admit, I would have felt bad for 'starving' them in the night if they would have cried for more or anything, but they didn't. They simply fell back asleep as if they got a full-forced bottle. Seriously guys, they sleep until almost 6 in the morning, eat plenty during the day and every one is much happier. People on the babycenter thread said that they've done similar things even though they're nursing. They'll cut back minutes gradually, so the baby gets full enough to sleep, but not full enough to have it replace day time meals. 

The girls seem more rested, their day time naps have regulated a lot more, and mama is happy. For the first time over a year, I'm sleeping well. Thanks for listening to my many posts of complaints and thanks for all your suggestions. I really feel like I tried everything. I read BabyWise, The No Cry Sleep Solution, and dozens of articles and threads on getting babies to sleep. I also read a lot of twin books when I was pregnant, but one that I didn't read was Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins. If you're pregnant with twins or have infant twins, I'd highly recommend the book. It's got specific twin-related tips that I wish I would have tried months ago. I'm borrowing it from my friend Becky and even though I'm into this thing 9 months, I'm learning a lot. 

So there you have it. The ladies of the house are getting lots of sleep. Sadly, the man of the house isn't because of his crazy work schedule, but maybe someday we can fix that too. :)

So much for a Wordless Wednesday, right?