Three month twins and naps

TobieRose

My twins are almost three months old and almost never nap for longer than 20 minutes. I've tried putting them down when they feel sleepy but if I put them in the pack'n'play or even a bouncy seat in my room they pop back awake in ten minutes or less. I have a rambunctious toddler so even if they fall asleep downstairs in the swing he wakes them up from being so noisy. And I swear if one of them dozes off the other pops back awake--every time. 

I could live with it except it's becoming clear they want/need more sleep ... and they expect me to be there to provide it for them by holding them the whole time, and with my toddler in the mix that's just not an option. Nor is rocking/sitting with them for 10+ minutes with no guarantee they'll even stay asleep ... I guess I'm getting a little desperate and would like to hear if you have any tips or tricks for getting them to nap! I don't need them to be on an exact schedule unless that's what will help them sleep ... have been EBFing on demand, maybe I should try to abide by more of a schedule ...? Any words of wisdom?

TheDairyQueenx3

My twin boys are 3 months old and I have a 3 year old and we are EBF so I know how crazy it can be haha! Now that they are out of the sleepy newborn stage it is harder but what I do is the one that won't sleep automatically goes in the ergo while the calmer one is in the mamaroo. I still tandem feed so they stay on the same schedule. My 3 year old does his home schooling while they nap or he picks a movie and has to sit in his tiny lazy boy with his blankie for his quiet time. I don't expect him to nap but he does know that while they sleep he must be quiet. Then I clean my house while they sleep and me moving around with the one in the ergo will put that one to sleep. Somedays if they are fussy and just not having it we forget the normal routine and I basically nurse and rock them all day. We keep easy food in the fridge like lunchables and the soup in cups etc for a quick meal that requires nothing much on my part. My toddler will snuggle up with us and we watch a lot of netflix! They sleep really well at
night so on those days they just wanted to be held I do my house cleaning after they are down for then night.

ballygirl

My girls are almost 4 months and every time I think I'm figuring out their natural schedule, they change it up.  Usually they'll go for 30-45 minutes at a time but we've definitely had some days where they will not nap more than 20 minutes and they get super cranky by dinner time.  My girls like to be walked to sleep which is a real problem when I'm alone with them because I can't walk both of them, but in general I have found they sleep best when they are swaddled pretty tightly.  I tried a lot of different swaddles and like the miracle blanket the best.  My girls initially slept really well in the rock and plays and one of them still does.  As soon as I see any eye rubbing or yawning, I swaddle them up really tight and walk or rock with a bottle and put her down. 

 

For me its actually easier to have their schedules staggered a little so that I don't have two tired babies to put down by myself at the same time, but I haven't really been able to keep them to any kind of regular schedule.  If they both seem tired at the same time, sometimes I swaddle and put them both in boppies or rnps which I can rock with my feet, and give them a bottle until they fall asleep. I don't know what I'll do when I have to stop swaddling.  They are getting too big for the rnp now too, so we're starting to use the crib a bit more with varied success. 

pillowass

PP's gave good advice but I just wanted to suggest a white noise machine - we use the Sleep Pillow app on our iPad - we crank it up all the way and it does a really good job of blocking out the regular household noise. 

TheDairyQueenx3

Oh yes ballygirl made a great point that I totally forgot to mention! Swaddle blankets. For naps and bed time we swaddle with the swaddle me Velcro blankets and offer pacifiers. They only get swaddled and the paci at sleeping times so it is their cue that it's time for rest.

bumpuser924057

Mine are almost eight months and are just now getting to the point where they MIGHT take ONE nap in the crib every day, but it never lasts long. They do most of their napping in the car, and I do my best to leave the house every day and drive for at least a little while so they can get some rest.