Sleep deprivation anyone?

I wrote about this about 3 yrs ago with Riley. It's the same old story...pretty much. Now there are two instead of just one though. So that means while trying to get one back to sleep in the middle of the night, I have to be quiet enough not to wake the other. This isn't too difficult for me, but the babies have a bit harder time. Plus you never know what is going to wake either of them. Either of them can easily sleep through their sister wailing away at the top of her lungs, BUT if my ankle cracks while walking out of the room that wakes them!!!

Then there are the nights that once I pick up one crying baby, the other suddenly "feels" that I'm in the room holding her sister and wakes from a dead sleep. It is actually kind of eerie - like they are connected. And what do you do when you have two babies waking in the middle of the night well before time to eat (I am trying to make sure they go 5 hours between feeds at night)? This answer I'm still working on... Some nights I will hold one while shooshing the other and rubbing her back. When that doesn't work, I have to let them cry! Yes, both at the same time. It's hard - especially since they seem to work each other up sometimes. Then other times its like each others cries woo them to sleep.

They are 8 months old (6 months adjusted), so I'm thinking of doing graduated extinction and getting rid of the middle of the night feed. Right now Reagan is sick - ear infection and croup! So I am definitely waiting until she is better to try. It's been wearing us out though.

All this said, and I'm still so very unbelievably grateful. We are blessed...sleep deprived and blessed!