I need help
I am running on weeks of nearly no sleep. We are co-sleeping with the twins and have run into a bit of an issue. They both have to nurse to fall asleep. I nurse them separately and they doze off. That's no big deal. The problem is that they both want to nurse all night long. Once they realize that I've removed them from the breast they wake up and the only way I can get them back to sleep is by nursing them again. I try to switch them to a pacifier after they are asleep and they know it's not the real thing. I know that this is comfort nursing and not because of hunger.
I can't nurse both of them tandem and get any sort of sleep, so I go back and forth all night long, from one fussy boy to the next, and barely grab any sleep myself. This goes on all night. I don't know what to do. I'm so tired.
Re: I need help
That would be so hard! Can you offer one a bottle instead if you have any pumped bm?
edit: or at that age, they might even be able to drink a little bit of water at night if your pedi okays it.
I think that's common. We have the same situation with daddy in the middle of the night.
I'm not sure what age when water is okay. Maybe you can ask your doctor at your next appt.
Since I'm not nursing twins, which I can only imagine is a HUGE job, I don't really have any good advice.
Wow! I'm sorry I don't know how you handle this sort of situation. Maybe you can check on the multiples board and see if there are any co-sleeping moms on there.
The only thing I can suggest about the nursing thing is doing the pantley pull-off. She basically says to let them nurse to drowsy and then pull off so they fall asleep without a nipple in their mouth. I do a modified version with DS. I let him fall asleep and then remove my nipple after about 5 min. He sometimes will start searching for my nipple. I try to shush him so he stays asleep. If he keeps searching, I let him suck for a couple minutes. Then I try removing it. It usually only takes once, maybe 2x of this and he stays asleep. If I wait too long, like I fall asleep while he is nursing and try to remove my nipple after 20 min, he usually wakes up and stays up! : (
GL!
This is what we do- tandem nurse to sleep, DH puts down in cribs/cosleeper/whatever (we moved from cosleepers to cribs at about 5 months). This way we get a little bit of time alone before they wake. (they sleep until 11 or 12 if we're lucky). Whe one baby wakes, I bring her into bed and nurse back to sleep (I do the Pantley pull off if I don't fall asleep), switch when other baby wakes. (DH picks up sleeping baby, I get up and get crying baby so she doesn't wake sleeping baby while DH puts her back in bed)
This requires DH to also get up when either baby wakes- I can't get out of bed and move them without waking them. We are down to about 2 wakings for Finnley (sometimes 3) and one (sometimes 2) for Isla. Yes, it's a PITA, but we can get a little sleep this way. Sometimes, but not often, they do wake at the same time, then I break out the pillow (or "big blue", as we call it)
Save yourself! This is a critical point to do what you need to get back your sleep and sanity. Much of it will happend natually as the babies outgrow it. But it's also okay to let DH offer some formula (gasp!) or whatever else works.
Look at your options. Change it up. Try something different.