New Sleeping Arrangements *updated*

The girls have had a rough few nights. I had been waking them up at 2 AM for a scheduled feeding since it was decided two weeks ago they weren't eating enough with their dainty little girl appetites. The two o'clock feeding was kinda nice. I set my alarm, got up and warmed the bottles, fed Anna Claire, burped her and put her back in bed without a peep. Then I would feed Mallory, burp her, rock her for a few minutes to make sure she was asleep because she would generally open her eyes to feed, then place her next to her sister - all in under 45 minutes! The girls were then sleeping until 7:30 - perfect!

Since about Friday, all that has gone up in smoke. They have been waking early, screaming, unswaddled. I'm sure you can guess how difficult it can be to calm and feed two screaming babies anywhere between 11:00 PM-1:00 AM, which is about the range of times they were waking early - and not going back to sleep quite so easily as before. Last night, for example, we fed them at their usual 7:30 PM, put them to bed, only to have them both awake again thirty minutes later. Then, up again at 12:30. We fed them then, and put them back to sleep. They were awake again at 5 AM. Another bottle and back to bed, but Anna Claire was right back up. After getting her to sleep, they both finally slept until 9AM. Wow! I'm sure they were exhausted. I know I was!

I think it may be time to separate them at night and nap time. They have been sleeping together since we were in the hospital and I do believe they are a source of comfort for each other, but I think Anna Claire is waking up Mallory. I tend to find her unswaddled more and more frequently, and I'm not sure she isn't knocking Mallory in the head with her arms and waking her up.

We have such a great bedtime routine that I hate to change anything, but maybe it just isn't working anymore. I knew the day would come when they would be too big to be swaddled and too active to sleep side by side, I am just frightened to change anything for fear that the great sleep habits they have had up to this point will be lost!

*update*

Last night was much better! We repositioned the girls in the SAME crib so instead of sleeping "long-ways" quite close to each other, we positioned them "short-ways" in the crib and moved them farther apart. The girls peacefully drifted off to sleep at 8:00; I fed them quietly at 2 AM; they each slept until 7 AM. Back on track - for now! ;-)

Oh yeah, just one problem. Here's how we found Anna Claire this morning...