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Need STTN help please!
I am really getting tired of getting up so often in middle of the night. DS #1 was sleeping through the night by 6 weeks, but I can't seem to get the twins to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. Even if I just rock them when they wake up, they are still hungry and non-consolable at 4-5 hours. I feel like I have tried everything, including more feedings during the day, not feeding them when they wake up, but rather just rocking them back to sleep, and keeping them awake during the day. Any tips to help get them STTN? Any good book recommendations? I am not looking for a full night sleep yet (although I wouldn't mind it), just some longer stretches now so that STTN can come later. Please help!
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Re: Need STTN help please!
Our girls still wake every 3 hrs. Our longest stretch yet has been 4 hrs. (and that seems to be because I add cereal to their feedings at night).
I can't wait for a longer stretch. And STTN will be heaven!
My boys are creatures of routine... if we follow "the routine" exactly, they'll sleep for 10 hours plus, if we veer off track, we'll have a bad night.
FWIW, our routine is....
Wake at 7, eat (and eat every 3 hours on the dot).
Into the stroller for a walk at 11 for an hour(this we don't do every day, but they sleep better when we do do).
Long nap in the afternoon after the 1pm bottle (2hrs)
Into the stroller for a walk at 6 for 1/2 an hour (dh does this one religiously)
Bath, bottle, bed starting at 7ish (but before 8).
Yesterday, it was freezing out so I didn't take them out during the day. And they napped horribly during the day (they have allergies), dh got home late so no evening walk and they went to bed late.
So... they were up at 3am and refused to go back to bed!
4 Fresh IVF cycles + 1 FET where embies didn't survive the thaw = 2 perfect little men!
sFET 11/9/11 - Beta 11/18 BFP!
I also have one baby that will sleep longer stretches and one that is up every 3 hours on the dot. But the last two nights have gone much better.
Two days ago, DH and I decided to increase the amount we give them in their bottle (FF) for the second to last feeding of the day. Usually both DD and DS will fall asleep during their last bottle of the night and it is extremely difficult wake them to finish. So we decided to give them more oz in their second to last bottle of the night. For example, we usually give them 4-5oz every 3-4 or so hours during the day (ex 6,9,12,3,6,9 etc). So, the 6pm bottle we increased it to 6oz and then try to give them the finish the full 5oz at 9pm before putting them to bed (usually doesn't happen and they only take in 3-4oz before falling asleep.)
Well, the last two nights it has worked great and DS has been sleeping almost 6 hours in a row before getting up to eat again. DD has never been a problem sleeper and has continued to sleep well. I was worried that increasing their intake to 6 was going to make them spit up a ton because they couldn't handle it, but so far, they have taken it all and have done great.
By no means am I an expert on this - since this is only the second night they have slept near 6 hrs. straight, but I wanted to share our experience with it in hopes that it may help. The sleepless nights get tough and the light at the end of the tunnel seems far, but it gets closer every day!
GL to you!
BFP Nov 09 - c/p Dec 09
BFP Dec 09 - A&J born in August 2010 at 37w, 6d
BFP Sept 11 - ectopic pregnancy/left tube removed
BFP April 12 - E born December 2012 at 39w, 1d
I notice too that both my babies sleep better when they get some fresh air and we take them out for a bit during the day. But I don't know how to get them out (and if I should) when it is so cold (and it's not even winter yet).
What are you going to do to keep to your routine of two walks a day during the winter?
BFP Nov 09 - c/p Dec 09
BFP Dec 09 - A&J born in August 2010 at 37w, 6d
BFP Sept 11 - ectopic pregnancy/left tube removed
BFP April 12 - E born December 2012 at 39w, 1d
No idea!!! It's getting really cold around here this week and I just can't see taking them out at 6pm when it's pitch black and 30 degrees out...I'm gonna bundle them up later and try to take them to the polls so I can vote!
Also, I start work in 3 weeks and they are going to go to daycare in 4 weeks so we'll be in a whole new routine. God help me!
4 Fresh IVF cycles + 1 FET where embies didn't survive the thaw = 2 perfect little men!
sFET 11/9/11 - Beta 11/18 BFP!
My boys started to sleep from 11-5 by 12 weeks. We started to cluster feed in the evenings, so when they normally had bottles at 3, 6 and 9, we spread out those feedings to 3, 5, 6:30, 8:00, so they were eating more frequently. I think at that point, they were eating 4oz at a time, so we would give them 3 oz at each feeding and by the time they went down for the night, they had consumed about 3 extra ounces. We also would get them up for a dream feed at 11, but after about 3 weeks of that, we stopped and they started sleeping from 9-5. They would get up at 5, have a bottle and then go back down until 7:30 or 8.
The cluster feeding really made a huge difference and I think helped them go longer stretches at night.
GL! I hope this helps!
I want to try this.... this sounds great. so at 3, 5, 6:30, and 8 they got 3 oz?... to equal 12? (the same amt as 3, 6, 9...at 4 oz?) just want to do this how you did it...and I'm clarifying.... TIA