HELP! Because I don't think I can handle this ever again!

jamie217

My H works nights and never since my girls were infants have they BOTH woken up screaming and then I knew they needed a bottle and if one got up the other always slept through it!  Now I'm dealing with two SCREAMING babies who have been up on and off for almost 4 hrs.  Nothing I did worked other than finally just let them cry, which took FOREVER and I HATE doing and who knows if they'll be up again!

They had motrin before bed, so they can't have more, I tried taking M out 2x because she is the one who keeps getting up, but she eventually woke up and makes a beeline toward my 11yr old Chihuahua (who is the only one sleeping peacefully and is usually up panting).  I tried shutting the fan off, turning it back on.  I took them out and hugged them together and sang to them to calm them down and told them it was time for "night, night" and K even signed "night, night" back to me they did fall asleep after that, but M woke up 45 mins later and then woke K up.

I tried sleeping in between their cribs, put a hand in ea. crib and singing, taking then both out and trying to sleep on the floor with them.  Finally, I just had to put them in their cribs and let them cry, which I HATE esp since I'm alone. I called H at work because I was so stressed and he told me to feed them, I wanted to slap him over the phone since they haven't eaten at night since before they were 5mos old!!!!

Does anyone else have an H who works nights and have had to deal with this?  My girls are usually awesome sleepers, who sleep at least 11hrs and when one does have a rough night the other usually sleeps right through it, so I'm not used to this and felt SO helpless.

To top it off we have music class tomorrow AM, so there morning nap is usually cut short on Wed and we were away last wk and only get one make up class and my Mom is coming to class with us and she is about as helpful as a mink coat during a heat wave, so rather than making things better, she'll probably just make them worse!  Thank GOD, I bought a giant new box k-cups today!

Well, even if there are no suggestions, it feels good to get it off my chest to someone other than my H, who just frustrated me even more!!

TheAbbotMommy

One baby who is not sleeping sucks, but two is stressful... Mine are teething and have a colds, plus my two year old just got finished being sick. Husbands can be so helpful sometimes too I am just waiting for my girls to wake up, I gave them cold medicine and it is helping, but they are still waking up. Good Luck to you, I hope you have a goods nights rest soon!

lkstor

I have to assume they aren't feeling good. Any other symptoms of a possible ear infection or something? Otherwise I hope it was just a fluke!

CER+MEL

I'm so sorry!  What a horrible night.  It definitely sounds like M isn't feeling well or is teething.  If the Motrin isn't helping and neither is soothing her in another room, my only suggestion is perhaps a pack and play in your room until she's back to her old self so at least they aren't double teaming you.  Good luck!  (And I'd skip that music class today if it's just more stress.  You deserve a break.)

sunnybrook.

My DH works swing shifts, but about 80% of his shifts are at night. We did sleep training on the girls when they turned 1. They learned to sleep through each other's cries. Thankfully, most of the time when one cries, the other never wakes up. The nights when they're both sick or teething though is awful, especially when they're both vomiting and you're trying to comfort both and clean up after them....I shudder thinking of it.

It sounds like you tried everything you could think of and had no choice to let them cry. I've had to do the same thing before. When you're outnumbered, there's not much else you can do, especially if you've tried everything you can think of and nothing helps. I have no advice for you, but I wanted to let you know you're not the only one who's DH works at night and who sometimes has no idea what to do

 

jamie217

Thanks, ladies!  Sunny, it's good to know I'm not alone!  My H is awesome, but there wasn't anything he could do and I don't think he knew how bad it was...but the combo of no sleep, screaming babes and getting AF yesterday made me want to scratch his eyes out!

They both work up with BMs @6:30, took their milk and motrin and went back to bed and have been sleeping since, so hopefully they get back on track today

jbl126

Sorry to hear about your rough night.  Like a PP said, maybe they have an ear infection.  Hopefully it was just a fluke.

DH works night shift as well.  Nights like those are few and far in between but they still happen.  One night I layed on the floor with one baby on top of me and I held the other ones hand through the crib.  And that is how we slept. 

One time I had DH come home because I just couldnt handle it myself.  Worse comes to worse, I will bring them both to bed with me.  Of course no one gets much sleep those nights since they move too much.

shellshavintwins

One of my DD is up in my bed every single night, and I am about to seperate them to makie it her CIO finally one last time. Usually her sister sleeps through it but when they are both teething and that happens I have two babies in my bed and all of us suffer for it. Thankfully the better of the two sleepers only acts like that when she is about to cut a tooth within a few days or has an ear infection! My other one does it every time she wakes up while her teeth are pushing up. Good Luck momma, my hubby works away from home overnight 5 nights a week too!