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Multiples
Is there anything I can do to make nap time easier?
I dread it. It's so hard to put two down at once. I usually feed them a few ounces in their bouncy seat to get them drowsy at the same time. Then whoever opens their eyes first I rock or sway back and forth until they are out, then the other usuallly has opened their eyes so I put the first one in the crib asleep then get the other and do the same thing. However, there's times like today they both are up, I end up rocking them both at the same time, they are staring at each other. Whoever closes the eyes first for a few minutes goes down then I work on the other.
My twins are 6 1/2 months old. I haven't been able to put them down drowsy but awake and that's probably because they are used to me holding them for a while after feedings due to reflux. They go down once asleep and need a few ounces usually to go down. I know that goes against what a lot of people do here (EASY and not getting them used to a bottle to sleep and putting them down when still awake). Truth is, everyone I babysat always had a bottle to sleep and would go down once asleep so that's what I was used to.
Any tips though to make it easier? I have a feeling people are going to mention just put them in the crib when tired. Maybe that is what I need to do and tough it out at the beginning, although I don't believe in CIO.
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Re: Is there anything I can do to make nap time easier?
I don't have the twin experience...yet:-) imo, he needs to be put in the crib before you notice he is tired.
But with my ds at that age, I always watched him for his sleepy cues...once I saw those I would put him down. But I also tried to keep a record of what time those sleepy cues occured because really by the time I would see the sleepy cue, we did our nap routine...I would sometimes miss his sleep window.
my next thing...a nap routine. I see you do the bouncey and bottle..maybe also try added a couple of books? would that be realistic with two? again I don't know yet just something I did with my ds.
I read healthy sleep habits happy child....I am not a firm believer in CIO but we never had to get to that point. Ds also had reflux which is why we got into the reading books before nap because he needed to sit up after his bottle for a 10-15 minutes. Once I learn how long he could tolerate being up, which at 6.5 months that was around 1-1.5 hour, then I always had him down in the crib before that 1-1.5 hour was up...I would judge this based on his night sleep or previous nap. If I missed the sleep window...he would either not sleep or would sleep for exactly 40 minutes (his sleep cycle) and not be able to sooth himself back to sleep.
good luck!! I never thought sleeping and infants would be so challenging, just have to find that magic amount of time!
hth
Im having a similar issue except at bedtime is th eonly time they get bottle then sleep. I am able to get them to sleep on thier own but ONLY in their bouncy seats. DD will sometimes fall asleep in the PNP on her own but DS wants NOOO part of not napping inhis bouncy which is getting hard since he is alreasy almost 17 lbs.
I do agree w/ PP thats how we get DD down w/o a problem and get both of them easily asleep in thier bouncy we look for thier sleep cues which admittedly has gotten easier now that they are older bc they actually rub thier eyes and suck thier thumbs. but still no luck in the PNP
i feel you, i really do!! it took me so long to get my girls to sleep totally independent on feedings. for me, i finally made the transition at about 6.5 or 7mos.
maybe they are having mini catnaps while you feed them, and then waking and trying to get back to sleep... if they are asleep at the end of the bottle you could try putting them in the crib asap and see what happens.
how often are you feeding them? are you napping BTC yet? once i got my girls on 4 bottles a day (down from 5) things got easier. when they needed to eat every 3 or 3.5hrs scheduling naps wasn't coming together. now in the am they have a 7am bottle (8am solids), then a 9am nap, then a 11:20bottle, then a 1pm nap. and so on. also i started ST (cio) for naps and nighttime at about 6 or 6.5mos. i still walk/rock but not for 10-15min like i used to...more like 3 or 4 min. they are usually not asleep, but almost.
Part of the problem is bottle schedule. The first bottle is around 7:30, followed by solids. However, they used to take a full bottle, now they only take 2-3 ounces. So at 9:30 when it's time for naptime, they want 3-4 more ounces. Then they wake around 11:30 (give or take), I'm never sure if I should give them a bottle since it's 4 hours from the 7:30 bottle. So I try it, they usually take 2 ounces. Then around 12:30 solids. Around 1:30-2pm they are ready for 3-4 more ounces to go to sleep. Around 4:30 another bottle, 5:30 solids and 7pm going to bed bottle.
I'm trying to do a bottle every 4 hours but they keep wanting it before sleep. There was a time where it was bottles at 8am (wake between 7-7:30), 12pm, 4pm and bedtime 7pm with solids following the first 3 bottles. I did have it a few weeks where they'd go to sleep without a bottle. But now since they eat more solids, the bottle before the solids they don't want a lot of since they know they are getting food I guess.