Hush little babies, don't you cry

Bedtimes these last three weeks have been a living hell! I know I really shouldn't complain too much - from the very beginning we were blessed with babies that took to routine and sleeping extremely easily. We left the hospital on a regular four-hour schedule, and aside from the night feeds night-times were a breeze with us sharing the duties - one doing the middle-of-the-night feed and the other doing the early morning feed. And when the night feeds were dropped they were sleeping though the night with very little disturbance at all.

But recently Tilly has acquired herself a new nickname - Tilly Tantrum. She's been screaming inconsolably on a nightly basis with the exception of one night while we were away on holiday (I will get round to blogging about the holiday... perhaps when I'm feeling a little more motivated to process the photos). Nothing will comfort her. It's so difficult trying to calm a baby that just wants to fight against you. And it's continuing into the night until 2-3am. Not good.

Originally I put it down to the heat, but now I'm not so sure. She has no teeth yet so I'm thinking that perhaps her gums are getting uncomfortable. We have even resorted to keeping her downstairs with us until we go to bed... but I know this is creating bad habits, and all she does is sit in her highchair smiling and kicking her legs.

Thankfully Jasper has been oblivious to most of it, occasionally waking up and glaring at us and then going straight back to sleep, but last night they were coming at us from both directions. Jasper is cutting his third tooth and it is obviously causing him a lot of pain. So I had a comfortable night lying with my hand in Tilly's cot until she finally settled around 4am. Talk about a shock to the system. I really don't think I'm coping very well, or that we're dealing with it correctly.

Both the Baby Whisperer and twin mum and expert Dr Carol Cooper suggest using the same method that you would with singletons... using controlled crying. It's something that I've been wanting to try, but I know that consistency is the key. Keith can be a little over-enthusiastic with them in the evenings to make up for not being with them during the day. So tonight we shall be having words (again!), and hopefully will be the first night of controlled crying. Wish us luck!

Hush little babies, don't you cry. Daddy loves you, and so do I.