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Multiples
Does keeping baby awake more during the day help them sleep at night?
Or does it have the adverse effect? My MIL has been trying to keep them up more each day. They usually only get 2 1hr naps and a few little ones. They are cranky as all heck around 6:30 but not due for their last bottle sometimes until 7:30 or so. I usually give it to them earlier if they are really cranky and tired.
What are your thoughts?
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Re: Does keeping baby awake more during the day help them sleep at night?
No, not for us it didn't.
Seems like they are telling you that their bedtime is closer to 6:30. Ours dictated their bedtime at 7 weeks old by fussing always at that same time (6 pm). So we moved it up and they have been great sleepers ever since!
After 2 rounds of IVF & 2 rounds of FET, we were blessed with identical twin girls!
Complete adverse effect for us. They hardly nap at my parents' house (since my mom constantly plays with them), and she always returns them cranky and exhausted. "They didn't want to nap today, so they should sleep GREAT tonight!"
Yeah, doesn't work like that AT ALL.
At 3 months, they shouldn't be awake for more than about an hour and a half between naps. "Forcing" them to stay awake longer isn't good. They still need a lot of sleep at that age.
keeping them up did not work for us with our DD. It seems like they are telling you they are tired, so I would put them down. I can't remember when DD got on her "schedule" but we let her dictate her sleep times for a little while. My mom always said that is when she was doing her growing
Now she goes to bed at 7:30 and gets up around 8am. Works for us!! GL~
No!!!! Sleep begets sleep. The more they sleep during the day the better they sleep at night.
My babies are never, ever up more than two hours. It's more like an hour and a half to and hour and forty five minutes.
I strongly rec the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby for Twins. I used the book for all three of my children and they all are really good sleepers.
At 5.5 months (4.5 months adjusted) , my babies seem to going to a sleep two hours/awake two hours with a three hour afternoon nap during the day and they've been sleeping through the night for about a month now.
I'm a sleep nazi though....
I know everyone says "better sleep during the day = better sleep at night" and "sleep begets sleep", etc. but honestly, if we are out (visiting someone elses house) and they skip a nap I find that they sleep a heck of a lot better at night. Example: Christmas Day they only napped in the car (30 min max - 2 times) and by the time we were home at 9pm they both crashed and did not make a peep until 9am. That's only if we're out though, I cannot keep them awake during the day at home because apparently home is not exciting enough for them, not enough people/commotion, etc. and they get fussy after only a couple hours of awake time. Now granted mine are almost 7 months old, but I still won't keep them awake for longer than 2 or 2.5 hours. At 3 months (like yours) I think they need their daytime naps and 'keeping them awake' probably isn't a very hot idea. Amazingly enough, I can't even remember what our naps were like at 3 months but I let them sleep whenever they needed to. I don't feel like the slept 'better' at night until they were 6 months regardless of how well they slept during the day. GL!
Your MIL definitely needs to read this or Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. It's counter-intuitive, but when babies don't get enough day sleep they get wired instead of super sleepy at night.
I am a firm believer of "sleep begets sleep". If my babies nap better during the day, they sleep better at night. If they have a great, full night of sleep....they tend to nap better during the day.
If I keep DS up for too long, he will nap for say, 30 minutes. Not good.
Yep, I was going to say that but didn't know how to word it.
I agree with the others, put them down at 6:30, just move up that last feeding. If they are melting down it is because they are done for the day, get them fed and put them down for the night. If they become too overtired during the day (being up to late will do this) they will not sleep as well at night.
At a little over 3 months, this is what our schedule looked like, this is when we started with A Baby Sleep Solution to train them to sttn 12 hours without getting up to eat anymore.
Wake up 7am - bottle - first daytime feeding.
Nap: started at 8:30 for the smaller twin (she could not go any longer than 90 min. awake) and then put the bigger twin down after her but no later than 9am. They would usually sleep for an hour to hour and half.
Wake up at 10/10:15, have play time and some tummy time.
11am - second bottle of the day - take small walk outside around the block or if cold singing songs or reading to them.
12noon - put down for nap they would usually sleep until 1:30/2:00, wake up playtime on activity mat then some tummy time.
3pm - third bottle of the day. I would take them for another walk maybe or play with toys or read story.
3:45 or 4:00 - 5:00 - third nap of day, sometimes this nap only last until 4:30 or 4:45, it was always the shortest nap of the day.
6pm, start bedtime routine, bath (if bath night) dress in pjs, and last, feed them their 4th bottle of the day. Have them down for the night usually at around 6:30pm. That last bottle was before the 4 hour mark, but if I didn't feed early, they would be so cranky and by the time I did start feeding them they would fall asleep before finishing the bottle.
They would usually get up at around midnight for first feeding and then again at around 3 or 4am and then up for the day at 7am. Because we went to the 4 hour feeding during the day this caused them to eat more and more at those feedings. So instead of eating like 5 or 6oz. in a bottle during the day, they ate more like 6-7oz. So at that point they were getting like 24-28oz. during the day and they started getting up later during the night and eating less. So then they started getting up at 2am to eat instead of midnight, and they would only eat like 3oz. Once 2am became their first wakeup time, it didn't go back and I never put more than 3oz. in the bottle. The second wake up started going to 5 or 5:30am and only 2oz. at that feeding. Once they were getting to 3am for first feeding it was like 2oz. or so and they wouldn't get up until like 6:30am, so once they got to 6:30, I would just slowly change them and try to pacify them until we got closer to 7am and then I would feed them and start the day.
After about 3 weeks of doing this they were taking 8oz. at each 4 hour feeding during the day and they didn't get up to eat anymore at night. This was all done by the time they hit 4 months old.
I didn't find keeping them awake during the day helped at all. I made sure they were never up more than 2 hours and just watched them for signs if they needed to go down early. Yes sometimes if they woke up early from a nap or slept longer than expected, I needed to adjust things the rest of the day, but I always tried to wrap things up and have them in bed between 6:30 and 7pm. To stay on this 12 hour night and 12 hour day schedule. Oh and they took 3 naps a day until they were 7 months old adjusted.
I agree w/pps, sleep begets sleep. They still sleep better at night when they get good naps.
Also agree they might be wanting to move bedtime earlier. We went as early as 6:45pm, and that lasted for several months before it inched a little later.
I will say that they would have meltdowns during bedtime routine (just after bath) no matter how early we moved bedtime.