Twins and Sleeping : The Crib Conundrum

During our hospitable stay at Mercy, (is it coincidence that hospitable and hospital are essentially the same word?) we received two bassinets, labeled Baby A and Baby B. They were so tiny we just couldn't put them in two separate 'bins'! Afterall, they did just spend the first 37 weeks of their lives smooshed right up next to each other! So, we had them both in "Baby A's-aka Lucy's- bassinet". Apparently there is a reason for separate sleeping quarters; when the numerous nurse staff, tech staff, or pediatric staff came to check on the girls, or do tests etc., that was how they could determine, who had what, and when. It didn't matter however, we still kept them together, and just made sure to clarify who was who and who had what.

We got home. We have one bassinet. We weren't sure if we needed another one, but as it turns out- we did not. The girls slept in the same bassinet from July 24 until approximately October 10 ( I only remember this because we had just arrived back from Boston:)). However, at some point in September, they absolutely had to be swaddled (not just in a blanket, but a "SwaddleMe velcro blanket so they couldn't escape) while sleeping, otherwise the smacking ensued... and if they were not swaddled, ensured waking up a sleeping sister.

So the bassinet was awesome; it fit perfectly next to my side of our queen sized bed in our baltimore-rowhouse-bedroom- and, with good advice from my sis, it was one that rocked- not just figuratively. I was sad to see it go in October, but babies do grow, and Stella and Lucy were 8 1/2 and 10 lbs respectively (as of their 2 month appt), and the max in the bassinet was technically 15 lbs.

In comes the Pack N' Play; a lot larger all around, however, the bassinet portion still only technically holds 15 lbs, but it has worked fine. And-it still fits in our room-- unbelievable!

So, to date, the star light girls are sleeping in the pack and play in mom and dad's room- they are 4 1/2 months old. They still wake up to eat every 3-5 hours, so it is very convenient for mama.

However, their mini-mattress is starting to cave inwards a bit and we know its time for them to move into their own room soon. It's somewhat comical when you think about how crazy new parents go when trying to set up the nursery and then don't even really use it for a few months. We have a cute nursery, but with the girls sleeping in our bedroom, all the changing diaper materials are in here too-- for now. And, we have TWO diaper pails- one for cloth, one for disposable... and let me say that we can't smell a thing. GO Diaper Champ, and GO free diaper pail that we got from Modern Diaper Service for use with our cloth dips.

Currently, we have one crib set up in the nursery. We figured, we only needed one for at least the first 6 months. Well, that's a bit over 1 month away now, and we only use the crib for playtime. I have noticed that, in order to have them both in the crib, we would have to place them vertically- the short way- in the crib. We couldn't really do head to head or feet to feet since they would ultimately knock boots, or noggins. The problem is, when they are in the crib this way, they can push off one side and hit their head on the other- they are just too long!

So... maybe its not really a conundrum... maybe we just have to set up the second crib... but we were hoping to stretch it out a bit longer!