Multiples
Working MoM's babies sleep schedules?
Hi,
I have been trying to figure out how I will deal with my boys sleeping, and working. My husband works 12 hr shifts thurs thru sat and on wednesdays 8 hrs ( swapping with a co worker to get every other wednesday off). I work from home sometimes but I have to be in the office which is a 3 hr job daily. The boys will be in daycare starting at 6 weeks. I have one friend who has twins who says that feeding them at the same time is best to get rest. I have another saying that feeding them at least a half hr a part is better. Which would you choose?
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Re: Working MoM's babies sleep schedules?
I agree with this 100%. I did one up, both up for the first few weeks. But then I thought I'd try just letting the sleeping one sleep til they woke up to eat on their own. I think they were about a month old when I decided to try it. It was hellacious for the first week or so. I'd probably only sleep 30 minutes between feedings during the night. But I swear that's what helped them sleep longer stretches. Fiona started first, sleeping through 2 feedings given to Anna, probably a good 6 hours at once. Anna was up every 2-3 hours for a long time, if I had to guess, probably almost the first 3 months. Then she slowly started sleeping longer stretches like her sister. Of course until they were about 9 months old, their sleep habits changed like 2 weeks! One would STTN but the other one would be up a few times. Then they'd switch. Then they'd both STTN (heaven!). Then they'd both be up a few times during the night. We finally sleep trained at 9 months and we've been good since.
This works for us. If one baby is up then both babies are up. Essential to keeping my sanity. I feed on a 3 hour schedule since Derrick, my NCU baby, came home on that schedule.
As for how I work with round the clock feedings, I just do. Most nights I average 4 hours of sleep and they are not consecutive hours. It's tough but you will survive. Once you figure out what works best for you and your babies life will start to fall into place, just remember it may take a while, mine are just getting there at almost 4 months. GL!
Uh... twins are just babies, just like singletons in almost every way. You just have two of them. Twins don't "do" things differently simply because they are twins. My babies started sleeping longer stretches, one around 6 or 7 weeks and the other around 3 months but it wasn't consistent until around 9 months old. Since then, they've STTN every night. And not because they are twins... but because they are just babies.
As far as how I dealt, I just did. That's kinda how you handle babies. You just deal with whatever happens because most things, like sleepless nights, are only temporary. I went back to work when they were 5 months old and by then, they were STTN most nights but not every single night yet.
In terms of feeding, we feed them both at the same time. We both feed one at 6am before work. H drops them off at daycare and I pick them up. They eat solids now at 5:30, then their before bed bottle which usually we both feed one, but I am on my own a lot in the winter, so I will pick the one that is acting hungriest/tiredest and feed them, then the other. (They are too big for boppys now.)
ETA: I see you were talking about night time feedings. When I went back to work, H was at home for the summer (he is a teacher), so we would both feed one then they would all go back to bed, usually around 5:30-6am, and I would finish getting ready for work.
I wondered the same, and here I am on my 4th month of work still not sleeping more than 6 hours a night. I am grateful for even that though. It's amazing how you get used to it.
Honestly though, it's hard. I have had days where the stress of work combined with lack of sleep has brought me to almost tears at my desk. You have to have support and hopefully you have an understanding boss/company. Fortunately I do.
Boy/girl twins born at 37w1d and 37w2d
Mine started STTN for 12 hours just a few days before they were four months old. There is hope! I recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Healty Twins. I think it really helped us. We didn't really have to do any sleep training they just slept through one night and we never looked back.
We did one up, both up for the first few months. We stopped when they were only up once a night, and we only stopped because regardless of when they got up they still were able to keep to the same schedule all day and H would get up with one, then I would get up with the other. If it was just me, I would have kept them on the same schedule in the MOTN.
The girls started getting up only once a night around 3-4 months I think. They started STTN about 3 weeks ago (6:30-7pm until about 6am, we had been getting 8 hour stretches prior to that, but when they're in bed by 7 and up at 3 it certainly doesn't feel like STTN). I don't know if it's less common for twins to STTN later or not, but I will tell you that one baby crying has no impact on the other baby (unless it's close to wake-up time and the other baby isn't in a sound sleep). One baby can be screaming her little head off and the other will stay asleep, which amazes me each time. H and I both work full-time so it was tough, and honestly the sheer exhaustion made the first 6 months not fun at all. But like PPs have said, you get through it because you have to.
My babies are only 5 months old, but I find tandem feeding to be harder than one at a time. I usually feed one, then the other right after unless they're both screaming their asses off and it can't wait. One thing I have noticed is that even if for some reason they get wildly off schedule from each other, they easily sync back up again within the day.
My babies started STTN last month but not regularly. One or the other still might wake up during the night one or two nights a week, but it is still better than it used to be. And I agree that when one wakes up crying, the other one just sleeps away like nothing is going on.
But yeah, I got NO sleep for at least 4 months. It's really hard but you make it work and for some reason, it didn't bother me. It just is what it is and you adjust.
8/08 BFP resulted in m/c
3/09 Polyp removed and dx MTHFR (both copies)
6 Clomid cycles, all BFN
5/09 IUI#1 with Clomid=BFN
6/09 IUI#2 with Clomid=BFN
8/09 IUI#3 with Clomid=BFN
IVF#1 = BFN
IVF#2 = BFN
IVF#3 ET 2 Grade A blasts 11/16/11
Beta #1: 485
Beta #2: 2,495