In the Holiday mood, TT Dad dug out our holiday decorations, and went to town… The reviews were mixed.
We had it all figured out. We could tackle anything. We were a sure thing.
“There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.”
-Robert Burns
I bet you can figure out where this is going.
Things quickly fell apart.
We spent a little over a week with TT Dad’s parents and family for Christmas, 2015. The trip started out smoothly. We drove overnight, and the kiddos slept well. When we arrived, they quickly made themselves right at home. Holidays with Oma and Opa are pretty wonderful. The house is decorated perfectly, the meals are delicious, and the love they have for their family is evident. There were some favorite toys set out for us, including a chorus of plush animals and santas that sing and dance when you press their button.
It didn’t take long before they had mastered where each button was.
Gradually, the duo’s sleeping habits began to regress. Zoey had been sleeping through the night since about 6 weeks old. Garrett had yet to pull off the full night of sleep, but was down to waking once or twice. They were both nursed to sleep, and he would go right back down with a quick snack.
By the end of the trip, they were both in bed with us most of the night. We couldn’t even get through Christmas dinner without multiple trips to the bedroom to put them back down.
As you can imagine, lack of sleep does pretty awful things to people. TT Dad and I were both exhausted, grumpy, and short of patience by the end of the trip.
We were so embarrassed by the duo’s sleep regression. They would wake everyone in the house, multiple times a night. We felt like we could never bring them anywhere ever again.
Once we were back home, things got worse. There was a full week of TT Dad and I both sleeping on the couch, each with a baby. Something needed to change. Quickly.
We finally agreed to give Cry It Out (The Ferber method) a chance. I ordered the book. Prime. Two Day shipping. We decided to start fresh in 2016.
January 1, 2016. Night one.
We did our normal bedtime routine, but didn’t let them fall asleep while nursing. Instead, we moved them into their beds, said goodnight, and left the room. We waited. And waited. And waited. They cried out for a few minutes, but stopped before we even got to the first scheduled interval. They complained for another 15 to 20 minutes, but never cried. They both slept through the night.
Night two- asleep after 7 minutes. Night three, they were both quiet by the time we hit the bottom of the staircase.
It was exactly the change we needed.
We tentatively began to think about another trip. We had learned (over and over) that we would certainly never be able to learn everything there is to know about family travel, but we had already stockpiled quite a few tips and tricks.
If only there was a way to share what we’ve learned with other families with multiples who are looking to tackle a family trip.
If only…
And so, Twins Traveling was born.
TT Dad and I decided we would chronicle our adventures, the goods and the bads, in the hopes of helping others to avoid our pitfalls, and take advantage of our ‘learning curves.’
We still have a long way to go- but we hope you’ll come along for the ride!
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