UGH! Routine screwy, I know why, but not WHAT to do??

[CynsTwins]

Please help!!  I am so lost.  We have 16 month old boy-girl twins who have been on EASY since birth.  They have always been good sleepers and their normal morning wakeup time is 7AM.  Within the past 10 days we've had several routine-busters:  they had their first cold, and DD has been cutting a bunch of teeth (at least 4!).  Her teeth have broken through now, and their colds have almost completely gone, leaving them with just a bit of a runny nose.  However, during the time they were sick, if they woke early, I'd of course go in to them.  Now, DD insists that 5:15 or 5:30AM is wakeup time, and she'll scream her head off, getting increasingly crazy to the point of gasping for breath and choking.  We've tried go in/leave, and that just makes her MUCH angrier (actually it always has). 

In desperation we have given in a few times, feeding them their milk since she wakes him up too with all her carrying on, and that still doesn't make her fully happy--now she wants to play afterwards (which they never do in their normal routine--normally after the milk is quiet crib time til breakfast).   I think that part of the issue is also that Daddy's alarm clock goes off Monday through Friday at 5:30, and she might be in a partially awake stage until she hears that; then she feels like the day has started.  She is mostly a Spirited baby, so that's part of the issue as well, as her temperament is working against us.  The kicker is, over this weekend we tried changing their routine during the day to give them more playtime.  They slept well at both naptimes and overnight, and woke at 7 like normal both weekend days.  However...this morning at 5:15 she woke up like clockwork and would NOT settle back down.  Right now, it's 6:30AM.  She's been awake and howling this entire time even though she's had milk, she's been changed, her nose is clear, I even gave her Tylenol and it hasn't kicked in yet. 
I realize that it's now becoming a habit for her but I have NO idea how to fix it!!  Please, please help.  I'm at the end of my rope here and of course it's screwing up the rest of their routine (and making Mommy a very unpleasant person all day long)!  Thank you in advance for any possible solutions!  If you need more info, just ask.

[becky1969]

To me it sounds like the weekend went well because no alarm clock! And monday alarm clock again and voila! She wakes up!  

See, 5:30 happens at about 10 hours into their sleep.  That's a natural rousing period for kids.  It's why when you have an OT kid at bedtime they'll tend to sleep 10 hours; they naturally have a light sleep period there, and it's much easier for them to be fully waken up.

I think the first step I'd try is getting DH a pillow speaker.  He can plug it into his alarm (I'm hoping it's a clock radio? If it isn't BUY ONE! They aren't expensive!) and put the speaker under his pillow.  Then HE can hear the alarm in the AM but no one else can!!  You can also add white noise to DDs room; a HEPA filter works great.  It's loud but soothing.

Try that first and if that doesn't fix the problem, we'll work on finding another solution! But boy the weekend good sleep and weekday bad sleep sure points in that direction!  

HTH!

[CynsTwins]

That makes so much sense, thank you Becky!  I didn't know that about the 10 hour rousing period.  I definitely think  she was OT yesterday too because she barely napped all day--a sure sign of overstimulation for her (and of course an utter nightmare for everyone else!). 

We actually tried something new last night, thinking that it might be the alarm clock:  we closed the babies' bedroom door at their  bedtime, and then when we went to bed we closed ours as well.  DH used his normal alarm clock and she didn't wake up til 6:45 today!  Much better.  Right now she's napping happily.  Let's hope we're back on schedule!

[becky1969]

Wonderful!! Long may it continue! And like I said, a little white noise does WONDERS!