wake both to feed?

DandT1206

Our b/g twins are 6 weeks now and hubby and i have been waking the other twin when one wakes to eat first (it usually winds up being every 3 to 4 hrs). At what point would you let the other twin just sleep and let him/her wake on their own? I thought we should be keeping them on the same schedule, esp when one of us will be alone with them.  But on the other hand, if we keeping waking the other twin up, how or when will we know that he/she is ready to sleep thru the night (or at least for longer than 3 to 4 hour stretches)?  So many people with twins in my personal life have said "when one wakes, wake the other,"  but I feel bad for the other twin who's not ready to wake...

(they are formula fed)

Ourfamilyof5

I think the answer to this question varies for everyone depending on their babies and what you want to put up with it. If you feel like one of your twins will sleep significantly longer than the other during the night, I don't see any harm in letting that one sleep just to see what happens. Just start the night with the mindset that you may be getting up more often (I would try it on a weekend). 

My twins are 4 months old and we still feed them both when the first one wakes at night. Lately, they've been sleeping 5-7 hours, but which wakes up first totally depends on the night. It seems like one is always dead asleep though. Once they consistently start sleeping 8+ hours a night and I know I'll get some sleep regardless, I may try to only feed the one that wakes to eat.

GL! 

allisonmarie22v4

I woke them both until they slept through the night at around 8 weeks.  At that point I just let the sleeping baby stay asleep if one woke up.

shaunah816

Every once in a while my husband and I get the bright idea that we should try not waking the other baby at night, and aside from one glorious night it has always failed. Last night, for example, we were up four times, when if we'd just gotten both up we would've been up 1-2 times. 

That said, I know lots of twin mamas that prefer to handle the babies one on one, and don't like waking both to eat. I think it really depends on how you prefer your evenings to be structured, and on the individual temperaments and sleep habits of your twins. Mine are five months and we are still waking both because it's a nightmare if we don't. I'm not sure yet when we should stop that practice because I haven't hit that point yet, but especially with yours still being so little I would recommend sticking with one up both up. They eat so frequently at that age that you're saving your sanity by waking both. 

I feel bad waking a sleeping little angel when his brother wakes...but I promptly forget about that 45 minutes later when I'm closing my eyes to go back to sleep and the other baby wakes screaming. 

Brummy14

We do one up both up. Any nights they end up on different schedules means abs zero sleep.

IUIBaby

When they're up to their birth weight. We don't wake up our twins anymore.

Jen0204

Mine were up twice a night until 12 weeks, then once a night until 9.5 months.  Until 12 weeks we did one up, both up.  After that we each took a baby, so when the first one woke up I would go get her and when the second woke up H would go.  No matter what their schedule was in the middle of the night we always kept them on the same schedule during the day. If you think one baby could sleep longer you could always try it for a few days and see how it goes.  If it doesn't work you can always go back to one up, both us.

yinyang124

We did not do one up, both up at night. They synced up on their own, waking up within 20 min of each other, so it worked out for us. I'd rather let them regulate their sleep. Like you, we didn't want to mess up either of their natural cycles by forcing one to be up if he wanted to sleep. During the day, we do one up, both up though.

Reilly626

Until 4 months old when they slept the night. No harm trying though go for it!

mamatotwins0812

I am pretty sure I wrote this exact same post when my little guys were smaller. I always followed "one up, both up" for the first few months. Twin A started sleeping through his brothers feedings and i continued to wake him for quite some time, honestly, out of fear of having to get up again once he finally woke up. I was just soo tired, I couldnt fathom getting up an extra time. After doing that for a while though, I finally decided it was time to just see what would happen, and he slept through the night. I think it took 1 night of him waking a couple of hours after his brother, but then he slept through, and his brother wasnt long after that. It does (and will) happen. As soon as I realized that he would wake if he was hungry, I felt a lot better about it too. Good luck!!