Sleeping, who does that?

I was not prepared.

You can think about it all day long, "I am going to be a parent, I am going to have a child."
"They will cry, they will poop, they will be up at night."
But thinking it doesn't do the real thing a lick of justice.

Having two babies who wake up into this world even though in the same womb were in very different worlds of sleeping habits.

I couldn't tell a newborn to sleep and teach them how to sleep or sleep train them.

I can imagine a new mom's heart drop when they think their child has fallen asleep and as they crawl exhausted back into bed hearing the croak of a cry peirce the air.

I am the same way except when I finally get one to sleep the other seems to not want to anymore and it's this game of trying to get two babies to fall asleep at the same time so they wake at the same time. Otherwise I end up with one baby always awake, always.
So my heart may drop but it's more of me stressing out to get the other to hurry back to sleep otherwise my other daughter will be waking up by the time this one falls asleep.

So in the beginning... Sleep was none existant, NONE.
My husband and I were up with one constantly and it was a miracle if they both slept at the same time for at least 5 minutes. 5 glorious, precious, sweet silent minutes.

I read everywhere I could, asking everyone I knew with children, when?!
WHEN?!!!
When can I start sleep training? When will they start moving towards some sense??

Everything and everyone had a completely different answer from the other.
No one answer, the conclusion, is there isn't really one. We make our own.
Each baby is different, with their habits, feeding and awakefulness.
So the answer is different and it's own for every baby.
The only thing is I had TWO different babies at the same time! & these were my first.

I was so overwhelmed and anxious, when and how will these two fall asleep together at the same time?? I did try feeding them at the same time, but Rosalee sucked her bottle up like it was her last meal or like she's never eaten before and Lillianna seemed like she enjoyed the simple things like the taste of each drop squeezing through a warm bottle of milk onto her newly aquired tastebuds.
So I had Rose winning the race and having her lay milk drunk and ready for sleep while trying to get Lilly to stop admiring the bottle and actually drink it.

(slightly off topic) I also didn't think much of it till I compared back to when I tried breastfeeding, they were taking 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours to drink their milk. While breastfeeding they were on for 15-30 minutes.
I suddenly realized something wasn't right, why were they taking so long?
I felt maybe the 0-3 month nipple was too slow for them, the next size up was 3+
they were only about 6 weeks old. But I got the bigger nipple anyway, they'd be 3+ eventually anyway.
It took a few times cause the milk came so much faster for them that they gagged a few times, especially Lillianna who held milk in her mouth like swishing fine wine in her mouth and would forget it as there as she sucked again.
But after a couple tries they were drinking milk like champs and within a reasonable time.

With that changed feeding them at the same time and speed seemed easier, and them getting sleepy at the same time seemed much better as well.

The best part was at night when they woke to feed they both started to wake at the same time and drank so much faster it helped them back to sleep.
I figured them taking so long prior helped them to fully awaken and thus made it hard to get them back to sleep. We were up 2 to sometimes 3 hrs trying to get them back to sleep and by the time they did they were hungry again and ready to feed.

(back to the main topic)
I have found over the last two weeks that the girls didn't really need me to set them a schedule, they needed to set me my schedule.

I followed their lead.

I was constantly out and about. I'd have my mom or people come here or go to my parents, or out to the store. I thought the drive would help them sleep or the buggie ride would help them sleep. But all along it was interupting what long sleep they could be having.
Also being at my parents house was too busy and they were too overexcited to sleep.
They would get overtired and extremely fussy.

I began to stay home alone all the time in hopes it would make a difference.

& it surely did.

I was more focused and they were more at ease. I saw when they were tired and when to prepare them for sleep.
Suddenly before I knew it they had this routine, I just had to get on it.

I sleep train them my way, at my pace as well as paying attention to their ways to fall asleep and their pace for it.
A different baby, with a different answer.

It's still a struggle, one always wants to fight sleep.

But they are learning so quickly (though going through it daily seemed like a long process) how to sleep on their own.

The joy of having a long gap of sleep again can't be described.
I have found them moving quickly into a longer sleep period at night and less naps during the day. From 2-3 hrs to 4-5 hrs and now to 6 almost 7 hrs stetches. Yes I know a mother would be overjoyed for that amount of sleep, but me... I'm TWICE as much. To get two babies to do that together is nothing less of a blessing.

My lesson to learn, keep watching them, learning about them, and try as best I can to be patient. There are good nights and there are still bad nights.

All good things come in time.
Like sleep...