To Sleep or Not to Sleep...

That is the question I'm certain is on Abigail's mind for every nap time and bedtime. "Should I go to sleep since I'm so tired, or should I stay up in case I miss out on any of the action?" I spend my days intently reading my daughters' sleep clues, looking for any hint of tiredness in the form of yawning, eye rubbing (which is just the cutest!), decreased activity or mild fussiness. In constant clock watching mode my sleep clue sensitivity heightens once the girls have been awake and active for over 1.5 hours. All activities are planned around protecting the sacred "sleep time" as I struggle through the joys of sleep training. Walks are shortened, dinners are eaten later, and my eye is on the clock all in an effort to have our beauties achieve the coveted parental goal of being able to say "Why yes, my girls sleep through the night!" (while beaming with pride and feeling extremely well rested)

I'm knocking on wood as I dare to type this, but the girls have had three great nights of sleep in a row. We have an excellent routine of eating awake for the last time around 6pm, a dream feed at 11pm and then the girls have been sleeping until 7:30am or later!!!! I swear I've died and gone to heaven. The days just seem better likely because I'm no longer a sleep deprived zombie! Big changes to our routine that have really made the difference (from what I can determine) making sure the girls are awake by 8am at the latest, so if they aren't awake yet I make sure they are up. Usually just opening the blinds in their room is enough to provoke the cutest stretching and stirring you've ever seen. Then I put the girls in Abigail's crib together so they can hangout while I make a cup of tea and warm their breakfast.
While the feedings are going well and we usually only have 5-6 per day, negotiating the naps has been the new sleep training challenge. While the girls need at least 2 a day, sometimes 3, it can be a challenge to spread them out so they don't interfere with their 7pm bedtime. The biggest struggle is convincing Abigail that she should be sleeping. I constantly struggle to get her to sleep in her crib on her own without the crutch of constant rocking, holding or soothing. She's fine if you hold her, but the second you put her down she becomes a crying, writhing octopus! I keep repeating the mantra that the struggle now will be worth the sleep later. I guess we'll find out in the future if all the hard work will pay off.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz