sleep/nap routines..... pls. help!

janjag

hi ladies, if you want to skip to my questions they're at the bottom of this very long post.

am i driving you all nuts with the sleep questions yet?  if not, read on!  my 5.5month g/g twins are wonderful!  probably still a little behind developmentally, but just a very little bit.  happy, little people. 

having trouble synchronizing naps - and getting babies to stay asleep.  we use an exercise ball to bounce babies to sleep, and i'm bouncing ALOT, and i'm getting tired.  i can tell they are getting fussier through the day b/c they aren't getting enough day time sleep.  yes, i'm reading the books - blast those books!  weissbluth has me going in circles.  i like the book, but i think he contradicts himself here and there - or he muddles my mind.  moore (the 90 minute theory) is simple - it works, but with twins, 90 minutes is creeping up on me so fast i can't seem to get it together in time!  and with short naps, feedings keep getting in the way.

phew.

OK - i'm under the impression that babies learn to self soothe (the key to naps and staying asleep, right?) most easily at bedtime.  probably the routine is so familiar, and they are very sleepy.  here's a little background on what we do:

VIVIENNE - we have done this with vivienne (put her down just drowsy) a handful of times already, and she sort of hums herself to sleep (CUTE!), or sucks her hand and tries to roll over... but very little crying, and she's asleep within 10 minutes for sure.  bedtime is 7ish.  vivy wakes up typically at 11 or 12am, and again around 4am, then up for the day at 6:20ish.  she is pretty much exclusively bottle fed now.

AUDREY - audrey always passes out as she's finishing her bedtime bottle, so we've only had one opportunity to put her down drowsy at night so far.  it worked - she fussed a little, but went to sleep.  audrey wakes up at 4ish, then up for the day at 6-7am.  she is bf'd for her middle of the night feeding (bottle for other feedings).

i try for a morning nap about 2hrs from wake-up.  vivy likes a long morning nap (1 1/2 hrs) and audrey likes a short nap (45 min).  so it makes sense to put vivy down first to get more time where their both sleeping.  a few days ago they flip-flopped!  now vivy wants a short morning nap (and is getting grumpy soon after), and audrey is alternating between short and long.  so, it's difficult to know who to put down first.  trying for 2nd nap anywhere from 90 min to 2 1/2 hrs from wake-up time, based on when each baby woke and ate.  they have flip-flopped that nap as well... the one who takes a short nap now wants a long nap, and vice versa.  i am feeding them mostly at the same time now, but it isn't always ideal.  someone isn't hungry enough, etc.  we still don't exactly have firm eating times in place... don't know that that will ever happen...? 

 

babes sleep in the nursery.  cribs are at opposite ends of the room.  we swaddle with one arm in/ one out.  we use white noise (rain).  the room isn't super dark in the daytime.

Q's:  how did you get into a nap routine?  at what age?  how do/did you soothe both at the same time?  did you have to do separate rooms at naptimes?   was a nap routine tied to bedtime sleep training?  do they ever nap without 5-10min (or more) of soothing??  did you nap at a specific clock time, or just 2hrs (for example) after last wake-up time? 

thank you so much for reading - hope i'm making sense. 

RobynK

I skipped to the Q's

how did you get into a nap routine? at what age? At that age we were still living on the "only up x number of hours" schedule.  They did not get into a real nap schedule until well after 6 months, I'm going to say 7 or 8 at the earliest? how do/did you soothe both at the same time? We didn't really have to.  At 4 months we started putting them down after x number of minutes/hours and they were drowsy but awake and went to sleep on their own.  Although there were still some naps in swings until nearly 6 months when I quit swings cold turkey. did you have to do separate rooms at naptimes? No, they will get used to each other -- we've never done seperate rooms   was a nap routine tied to bedtime sleep training?  Not really do they ever nap without 5-10min (or more) of soothing?? By that age yes -- drowsy but awake.  Audrey would fuss for 5-10 minutes (and still does sometimes) but she still went to sleep. did you nap at a specific clock time, or just 2hrs (for example) after last wake-up time?  Just a few hours after waking.